Evorlangn Roses
by SliferHeart
Summary: Sora's days of relaxing on the beach at home come to an end with the unexpected arrival of a new girl.. and adventure. A new enemy is on the loose, an old ally is brought back from Death, and everything is tied up in her. Another journey begins...
1. Chapter 1

Hiya... I just add to start yet another one... BWAHAHAHAHA-!! Ahem... anyways- hope ya like it!

Disclaimer: Don't own nuttin' but the OC... but once I win the lottery-! The possibilities are endless! (j/k)

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Chapter One: The New Girl

The crash of waves and the smell of the sea assaulted his senses with every breath of wind. The feel of the sand beneath his body, the warmth of the sun's rays on the back of his eyelids; Sora had missed all of it on the bizarre journey as he searched for his friends. Now, though, he had nothing else to do but relax and enjoy the things he couldn't enjoy while there was still the Heartless and Organization Thirteen to contend with.

Spending the day in the company of Kairi and Riku, nap on the shore of the island, watching the sunset over the calm waters of the ocean... A few months ago- that such a long time whenever he thought about it- heaven was nothing more than getting an answer to another riddle, a break in an otherwise neverending battle. Relaxing on Destiny Island was just a dream and not the reality he was gladly experiencing at that moment.

"Sora-"

The sand near his head rustled and shifted under the approaching feet of the newcomer. The brunette yawned, moving his arms from behind his head to rub the sleep from his eyes. He opened his eyes reluctantly, blinking at the bright sunshine. A tall figure stood over him, face calm and patient. His long silver hair fell over his shoulders and nearly covered his eyes from view. Despite the newcomer's impassive expression, Sora saw a sparkle of amusement in the back of Riku's gaze.

"What's up, Riku?" He pushed himself up into a sitting position, tucking one leg up towards his chest. Selphie had drafted Kairi to help look after her younger sister and her group of friends for the day. Sora had gotten out of it by claiming that he had to clean his room or else. Riku already had plans for the day, which, as far as Sora knew, he had spent the entire day doing.

The silver-haired teen gestured for him to get up to his feet. He replied as the brunette scrambled up and slipped his sandy flip-flops back on, "The King's here. He wanted to speak with the two of us."

Sora frowned. "Wha- why..?" His friend just shook his head; he didn't know.

"C'mon."

Two pairs of feet pounded up the shore towards the wooden ramps and structures that connected the sprawled community of Destiny Island together. His flip-flops clomped loudly on the wood as he ran clumsily after Riku. One of them fell off as they raced around the curve of the path- Sora absentmindedly chucked the second one off and caught up with his friend bare-footed. He'd pick his footwear up later.

The trip took them on the path that hugged the side of the only cliff on the island; the rocky side faced out towards the ocean. Palm trees grew at its summit and base, above and below their heads as they raced along. The wind rustled the leaves and made the rope banister swing slowly back and forth in a small arc.

Riku started to slow down as the path took a downwards turn to the ground. He finally came to a stop on the even dirt ground next to the inland pool of water beside the seashack. Another part of the shore laid to their right and Sora caught himself wishing to be napping once more on the sand as he rested his feet on a patch of the cool ground. _Why is that everything happens here? _The area also branched off into a tiny recess where he and Kairi had once drew their faces on the rock walls. The door to Destiny Island's heart resided in there as well, and a piece of the puzzle Sora's journey had been.

"Majesty?"

Riku's voice broke through his thoughts, drawing his attention on the short figure of Disney Castle's leader. King Mickey had left his Organization Thirteen- imitation cloak behind, but Sora noted that his eyes still didn't rest, and he didn't relax even after they had shown up. "I know this a bit unexpected, Rikus, Sora-" A small, tired smile spread over Mickey's face when his eyes finally rested on the two teens, "but I need to ask a favor out of you two."

Sora didn't even blink at the words, but crossed his arms over his chest and nodded once, as if this was an everyday occurrence for him. In a way, it was. "What can we do for you, sir?" The King glanced around once more. Apparently satisfied, he beckoned over his shoulder. The figure came slowly out of the shadow made by the seashack, looking as uneasy as the King was.

She was easily twice as tall as the mouse king, and maybe a few years older than himself as Sora estimated it. The girl came to a stop still directly behind the King, remaining silent. Her dark brown, wavy hair was tied back into a ponytail, the tip barely brushing the top of her shoulders. Eyes of the same color shyly glanced between the two of them and quickly flicked away. Freckles marked her skin, sprinkled almost liberally over her nose.

"I need you two to look after Kayleigh for a few days. I'll be back before long." Mickey reached one gloved hand into a pocket and withdrew a small, red circular object. Sora recognized the device from off the Gummi-ship; Donald had kept one on him on their trips down onto new worlds in case if Chip or Dale had to get in touch with the group. "If there's any sort of trouble, call me." The King tossed the device up to Riku, who deftly caught it in one hand.

Mickey sighed, for the first time relaxing. His dark eyes rested briefly on Riku and then Sora, reflecting the smile that slowly stretched over his face. "I hadn't meant to get you both involved again so soon.."

Sora scowled. "Again? What's going on this time?"

His question went unanswered. The brief lapse in his guard was just as quickly gone. Mickey backed away, whispered one last thing to the girl before disappearing from their view.

"...Okay... Uh-" Sora glanced over at Riku. What he saw in his friend's eyes was the same loss he felt; for once in their lives, even Riku didn't know what was going on. _That's new._ The brunette glanced back towards the girl and tried to level a sincere smile on his face. "Um, welcome to Destiny Islands.., Kayleigh, right?"

The girl started at the mention of her name, but quickly nodded. "..Thanks.. I- I'll try to stay out of your way." She ducked her head down towards the ground, voice failing her at the end of her words.

It was then, even though he made sure to say that it wouldn't be a problem at all- don't say that- and so on, that he started to wonder whether he had really meant the welcome at all. His instincts were biting at the back of his mind, whispering doubts and the promise of approaching trouble, thanks to the arrival of the 'new girl.' Sora shoved them away, placing his trust in the King's hands. What was the worst that could happen in a few days?


	2. Chapter 2

_i'm back... errrrr... sorry for the wait.. I guess I should've mentioned this on the first chapter, but I'm gonna do updates like some of my other stories: once a week, hopefully, usually on the weekends. Anyways... read, review, enjoy-! Thanks!_

Disclaimer: Yeah- no... still waiting for that lottery ticket to come in for me..

Chapter Two: Nobody's Awakening

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'A few days' slowly started to turn into 'a week or so', although the King did not make another unannounced visit to say as much. At first that worried Sora until Riku pointed out that if Mickey had gotten into any trouble, he would have contacted them through the device. With that reassurance, the brunette reluctantly focused on their task, making sure Kayleigh made a smooth transition into the life at Destiny Island and with the people residing there. At the very least, Kairi had been more than pleased to have another girl to gossip with besides Selphie.

As the days passed, Sora and Riku left the new girl on her own more and more often, but he made it a point to check on her after some time had passed. Most of the times she was tagging around behind Kairi and Selphie, but there was a few times when Sora found the girl by herself, admiring the view of the ocean washing up against the rocky side of the cliff from the path set high up.

Sora slowly drifted out of his reminiscing as he became aware of someone speaking. The early afternoon sunlight was beating on the back of his neck, casting a small shadow that barely showed in front of his feet. The wind, what little there was of it, for once did not bring the sounds of the waves from below up wards, making the words he heard- not just figments of his imagination this time- clear.

"... Are you sure..? Well, no- Of course I believe you.. uh-huh... What about the king?.. yeah, sure..."

He came to a stop, a few steps away from moving around the curve and making himself visible to the speaker, barely moving for fear that Kayleigh would realize that he was listening in on her conversation with.. whomever. With every pause, he strained to hear the reply, but he never caught so much as a whisper.

"Of course... you too, okay? ... Well, I-... Oh!" Kayleigh's words came to a quick end, drawing out into an even longer pause than any of the earlier ones. As the seconds ticked by, Sora started feeling the nagging bite of worry at the back of his mind. _I should just pretend that I didn't hear anything- just take two steps, say 'hey- I didn't know you were here, 'Kay', or something and then turn right around and leave-_

Sora caught his breath, drawing himself up straight and stretching a wide and, hopefully, sincere smile over his face, as the footsteps came closer. Kayleigh stepped around the curve a moment later, doe eyes flickering with the same worry he had felt. "Uh, hi Sora.." A small curve of her mouth tilted up wards, offering a small grin that was as shaky as on the first day they had met. "Did you come up this way for some sight-seeing?"

"Yeah.., a little break from the beach, ya know?" The brunette shrugged. After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Say, was any else up here too?"

"Wha- no! Why?"

"No reason." He let the subject drop with another shrug. Inwardly, however, he could not help but wonder at her quick answer. "Ya want to go find Riku and Kairi?" With a nod, Sora turned back around and started walking along beside her, heading back down the path and the beaches below. He forced himself to shove any thoughts on what he had overheard, making a resolution to ask Kairi and Riku about it before pushing Kayleigh to answer more direct questions.

In the meantime, it would be easier to keep an eye on her in a group, never mind the chances of overhearing further snatches.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to sink beneath the oppressing dark colors of twilight when they finally split ways. Wind had begun to pick up, bringing the chill of night to anyone left outside. Most of the citizens of Destiny Island were already inside, leaving the rope and wood pathways empty of people. Kayleigh pushed her pace to a faster walk, wrapping her arms over her chest to withhold a shiver as another breath of wind slid past.

Today had been a close one. If he Had not't warned her, who knew what Sora would have found out- and the King had specifically stated to keep what was going on ignorant from the three teens.. at least up until it became necessary that they knew. And that was not even the worst.

A loud creak drew her attention forwards. Her breath caught in her throat, freezing in the only semi-cool air along with the rest of her body. _How..?_ The slim, limber figure shifted its weight with every bob of its body, making the wood under its long feet creak and groan. The bright white color of its body shone clearly in the darkness, outlining the gray mark on the top of its head. Dark eyes peered out from under the lip of its hood.

**Come... with... me...**

Those three words were enough. The invasion of her mind with that foreign voice, devoid of any emotion, was more than enough of a catalyst to break her paralysis. Kayleigh took two steps backward and, when the Dusk scrunched itself into a trembling bundle of legs and arms, twisted around and started sprinting, heedless of the usual dangers that tended to catch her foot and send her flying to the ground. The tell-tale whisper of the Dusk zig-zagging through the air kept close behind her.

**Kayleigh... **

She bit her lip, forcing her legs to move faster. _Go away!_ She cringed as the voice laughed gently at her feeble protests, practically feeling the smile on her mind.

**Dear fool- you can't run from me for forever.**

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Sora laid on his back on the bed in his room, eyes closed, focusing on nothing but the will to relax. He could practically feel the gentle cushioning of the sand, the sea-scented wind against his face. Muffled noises from below his room marked his parent's location; two older, invisible forms moving about far way from the other side of the his eyelids.

_Wsssshhhhhhhh..._

The brunette bolted upright, using his hands to push his body up into a sitting position, legs scrunching up, ready to spring the rest of his body upwards out of habit. He batted aside a curtain, narrowing his blue eyes onto the slowly darkening scene outside. _I didn't imagine that... did I?_

"Wha'?!" Sora stared, shocked, as the form of a Dusk whisked around the tree framed neatly by his window. _No way... what are Nobodies doing here?_ Without a further thought, the teen jumped out of his bed, pausing in his rush out of the room to slip his shoes over his feet.

He took the stairs leading to the ground floor two at a time, one hand clenched over the key chain clipped onto his belt. Using the keyblade so soon had not been expected, but he was not about to let his home slip away again without a fight.

His parents didn't say a word when he raced out through the front door; he doubted that they had seen him run out at all. He spied the Dusk and started after it, summoning the keyblade to his hand. The Dusk spared him the need to climb a tree; it fell onto the ground, feet twisted around each other, spinning around to face him as Sora caught up to it.

Sora didn't stop or hesitate; he rushed forwards, drawing the keyblade back and swinging it forward once he was close enough. The shock of metal hitting unresisting, solidified shadow ran up his arms. The Dusk fell backwards, disappearing in a cloud of dark smoke.

"Sora!"

The brunette turned around, absentmindedly setting the blade over one shoulder, behind his head. Riku was running towards him, the dark form of his keyblade clenched in one of his hands. He took one look over the last remains of the smoke, the blade over the other teen's shoulder, and his mouth settled down into a thin line, expression set. "You got one too?"

Sora nodded.

"That's six already..." Riku muttered, a frown settling over his face. "And here I thought that little problem had been taken care of with Organization Thirteen. Why would they show up here now?"

The brunette bit his tongue. Those were his exact thoughts- minus the count on the Dusks. Learning about that little fact was not too reassuring, either. "Let's just make sure we got 'em all first." His friend nodded and, without another word, they both started running further in towards the town-part of the island, ridding one Dusk after another as they found them.

After a while, they were forced to split ways; Riku went further into the town, Sora raced through the back parts of of the pathways. He pushed his pace as fast as he could go without diving straight into exhaustion. For what felt like a long time he saw nothing- no Dusks or Heartless- and started to think he would not, until a white flash of movement caught his gaze. Hand clenching tighter over the keyblade, Sora forced his legs to move ever faster, feeling an almost savage glee as he started to gain on the Dusk.

It spun around on him, too late. Sora swung the keyblade downwards, a deep diagonal slash from the right-hand shoulder to the left leg. The Dusk fell apart in a similar burst of smoke.

Sora stayed where he was, fighting to catch his breath. He swung his gaze around his surroundings, surprised to find himself standing one one of the most unused wooden-rope paths. It came to a dead end in a wider expanse of wooden boards, leading to absolutely nothing but an abandoned storage shed.

Tonight, though, Dusks were holding some sort of meeting at the end; their backs were turned towards him, most standing in place except for the bobbing, the occasional Nobody twisting around in the air in a fit of extra energy. Sora started forward slowly, counting the number of foes in his head.

"Sora-!"

He spied a hand waving over the heads in the mass of Nobodies. It took a moment to figure out who's voice was calling to him. "..Kayleigh?!" He didn't get the chance to say or do anything else; Sora caught a flash of movement from the corner of his eyes before something heavy crashed over his head and body, dragging him down to the ground. His hand hit the wood hard; the keyblade flew out of his hand and disappeared in a flash of light as it hit the wood. _NO!_

The rest of the group's inactive-ness came to an end. Sora could only watch from the space his captors left open to his view, helpless, as the remaining Dusks pounced towards where Kayleigh had been. He heard her cry out, drawing a cold hand to clench down over his heart; he had made a vow not to let another friend be taken by the darkness-kidnapped or possessed- and yet his struggles were in vain. The heavy weights would not move an inch no matter how hard he tried.

A flash of fire raced across the air; Sora saw a small group of the Dusks flung backwards, some hitting the ground and vanishing in darkness, or crashing into more of their own. _No way..._ Surprise froze his limbs, kept his eyes open for the spectacle. Flashes of metal, of fire, cut through the group of Dusks, casting the Nobodies aside like stuffed dolls. One Dusk stepped in front of his view; Sora could see the weapon that tore through its soft body clearly: it was a disk that he had seen slice through foes mercilessly, making anything it touched burst into flames.

_But how...?_

The Dusks that had been holding him down let go, turning their attention onto the tall, red-headed newcomer. Sora felt as though his limbs were jelly; he had barely gotten up onto his knees by the time the last Nobody had fallen under the disk's fiery bite. For a long time, no one spoke. Kayleigh was standing behind the newcomer, unharmed, but clearly startled. Her eyes were on the back of the redhead, flickering over towards Sora every few seconds.

He hardly noticed. His own attention was focused on the spikey-haired young man, a mix of emotions washing over him. "Axel.." Sora blinked, resisting the urge to rub at his eyes to see if he was hallucinating or not.

The redhead leveled his bright green eyes on him, a small 'devil-may-care' smile slipping over his face. Sora heard without the Nobody speaking, 'Got it memorized..?'


	3. Chapter 3

Yo. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it and all that.

Disclaimer: Don't own nothing... just the OC's.

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Chapter Three:

_But how..?_ Sora watched the redhead, mind replaying the last time he had seen Axel alive. In the pathway between the fake Twilight Town and The World That Never Was, he had fought numerous Nobodies with him, one after another until Axel used the last of his strength to end the battle... and his own life. The brunette had knelt on the floor of the strange gateway, talking to Axel as he faded away from existence.

Yet here he was...

"Hey, Axel-"

The redhead gestured at Kayleigh, flicking his gaze over towards Sora at the sound of the latter's voice. A swirling circle of darkness pooled on the ground behind his feet, slowly expanding upwards. Kayleigh joined the redhead regardless, either not noticing the phenomenon, or used to it.

"What's going on?" The brunette wasn't entirely sure if he meant the entire string of events, or just the Nobody's return to the living.

"Look, Sora- we don't have time for a Q and A." The swirling shadows now stood easily over even Axel's tall frame, and there it remained, partiently waiting to swallow its passengers for their trip through the dark realm; destination unknown. "You have that communicator from the King, right? Tell him that we had to leave."

"It can't wait.?" The redhead shook his head. "Where are you going?"

"He'll know."

Much to Sora's frustration- whether it was directed at himself or Axel, he wasn't entirely sure of- reached its peak when the portal flared a dark violet as the two were consumed by its hunger. The idea to follow them, to just grab onto Axel's arm and tag along once again came too late; the brunette stumbled forward a step as the whisps of smoke vanished into the dark night.

A breath of wind brushed over his face as he did an about-face and hurried back down the path. Riku still had the communication device- hopefully it would be with him right now. _They're not going to believe me-_ Sora shook his head and sighed. Then again, considering everything else the three of them had been through, Riku and Kairi were probably going to be the very last people on the island to be surprised.

* * *

The portal on the island had vanished, but the darkness it had opened up for the two remained. The dark realm, the thin stretch of reality that seperated the worlds from each other for beings originating out of darkness, hadn't changed in appearance from the monochromatic black on black, but the pathways into the other worlds were blocked. Without the pathways, the realm was more disorienting than usual- even for Heartless and Nobodies who could navigate through the dark merely by a force of will.

Axel closed his eyes, trying to focus on picking up Twilight Town's heartbeat. Every world possessed its own heart, the trick was to hear it out from the rest. It shouldn't take too long- his last life had included multiple trips to Roxas's favorite world. _Is that why that mouse choose me?_ The King had never mentioned his reasons for reincarnating him. _Some reason._

Ah, there it was-

Something moved, bumping into him. Axel felt the girl's arm twine around his own, holding onto him tightly as she pressed against him, burying her face into the back of his shoulder. He glanced behind him, resisting the urge to shake her off. Her dark hair covered most of her face from view, but he saw the tear slide down, felt her trembling.

_.. Whatever... _Axel turned away, focusing back onto the heartbeat. It was easier the second time to hear it- the sound soon seemed to him as if it was coming from the surrounding darkness itself, growing in volume and drowning out the rest of the worlds' hearts. "Hold on, Kay', " the girl's grip tightened in silent acknowledgement of his words. There was a pause, and then their surroundings began to morph again.

* * *

Kairi sat on the edge of her living room sofa, unable to keep from fidgeting as Riku came to the end of his report on the night's events in a low voice. Upstairs, and elsewhere throughout the town, people were sleeping, blissfully unaware of the danger they could have been in. Getting into trouble for having friends over- two boys, too- from her aunt paled in comparison to the thought of a dozen or more Dusks slinking around the dark streets.

Now it was Sora's turn. The auborn-haired girl listened with polite quiet and inner unease as the brunette started off with a beginning a lot like Riku's. She couldn't help but wonder at how she managed to sleep through all of this, even though she had been trying to catch up with them. The keyblade charm Riku had given to her had been resting on her night table within easy reach of her hand if she had just woken up and looked out the window-

_Some help I am... _Kairi bit her tongue, forcing her thoughts back onto what Sora was saying. What she heard made her mouth drop open in surprise. "Axel?!" Images of the redhead came to her mind, of the first time she met him on the beach. His voice, almost coaxing her to trust him. The piercing green eyes that kept her from running away until Pluto appeared at her side.

"Yeah, Axel," Sora repeated, his eyes on her. He didn't continue right away, giving her the chance to speak, but Kairi shook her head, meaning for him to continue. It wasn't much longer. "And then they left..."

"Does this mean that the rest of the Organization is back?" Riku asked, not noticing how his question made her shiver. Axel had been enough of a shock- having that blue-haired man, Saix, alive and running around again was not reassuring.

"I don't know.. But we need to contact the King. You have that device with you?"

Kairi frowned, confused until she remembered how they had told her about King Mickey's request. She slowly stood up and joined them as Riku pulled the communcicator out from one of his pockets and pushed a button on it. The screen flickered brightly, and it started to beep. Once... twice... three... four... five...

It went on for another five beeps before it gave out one, lower and longer noise. The screen went dark once more, dead to the world. They exchanged looks, each as confused and worried as the other. Riku silently pressed the button a second time and then a third. At the end of every try, the device shut itself back down when no one on the other end picked up.

"This isn't good," Riku said softly, twisting the device over. "Hold on." Without acknowledging either of their questioning looks, the silver-haired teen broke the circle and left the room. Kairi heard some drawers from the other rooms being pulled out and rummaged through- whatever he had been looking for was soon found.

She glanced over at Sora, seeing the same worry in his eyes as she felt. He tried to keep it all away from her, though; a shaky smile crossed his face. "I'm sure he's fine- probably too busy piloting the gummi ship to pick up, ya know? Or maybe something's wrong with the communicator.." She nodded in fake agreement with every word of comfort Sora thought up, but the rising anxiety and fear that something awful had really happened would not go. It was a big coincidence to have Axel suddenly resurface and for the King to go missing in one night.

Riku came back, not looking up at them until he had fit the bottom half of the device back into place. The look in his eyes betrayed his own worry, though he kept his voice perfectly even. "I couldn't find anything wrong with it- something's up.."

Hearing this final conclusion, seeing her two rock-solid friends clearly worried, only added to her own fears. Kairi crossed her arms over her chest, holding back the shudders that threatened to shake up her frozen body. She wanted the device to suddenly start beeping, signaling that the King had been too busy to answer their call- but it remained silent, the screen dark, in the palm of Riku's hand.

A shudder finally won out; Kairi tightened her grip, closing her eyes briefly. Both Sora and Riku began to discuss what they would do next, but every suggestion one raised was taken down by the other. She soon drowned them out as the hopelessness of the situation began to sink in. No gummi ship, no way to contact or get to King Mickey, no way to know what's going on in the worlds, nevermind this one...

_Please come back, King Mickey... please... _


	4. Chapter 4

YO! I just like saying that every so often... So anyways, yo, I hope that you, yo, are liking this, yo, and all... Yo. Yo-yo-yo... Ahem. Thanks for reading- enjoy.

Disclaimer: Not a thing... 'cept the OC.

Chapter Four:

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Dreams broken up into horrific short films ruled his mind through the night. Old battles against defeated foes were replayed, every slash and parry shown in perfect detail, words repeated in clarity; all twisted and edited as though someone had picked up his memories once more and let loose a pair of scissors upon them in savage glee before remorse took over.

Only this time Namine was not around to put it to rights- where he should have survived Maleficent's magic, Jafar's schemes, Oogie's tricks, and so on down the line of treachery, he succumbed over and over into the everlasting pools of hungry darkness. In the end he heard their laughter, evil cackles blending together in a cacophonous burbling mess as he sank down.

The morning sunlight that finally broke through the dream fragments was a relief. Young children's laughter came from outside, where some early-risers had already began their carefree games. Sora listened to their happiness as he ran over his eyes from only semi-familiar surroundings- the roomy armchair Riku had claimed, the floral print wall paper, the dark wooden bookcases, and the sofa he had chosen- while his mind remembered a time when Riku, Kairi and himself had believed that summer days were for forever.

_All it takes is one loose lock, and the darkness could come through and consume everything again. _Sora reached up and touched the crown-shaped pendant around his neck. _I can't let that happen again. _

Moving quietly, Sora got off the sofa he had crashed on the night before when they had decided it was getting to late to keep talking, and stretched out his cramped muscles. Riku looked as though he was still dead asleep- Kairi was no doubt the same upstairs in her own room. That was fine though; they could use the sleep. (Technically, they'd say the same for him, but getting back to sleep after those nightmares and the heavy weight of thoughts on his mind would be difficult.)

He let himself outside, and started to walk. His feet choose a direction for him- soon the mostly empty streets of Destiny Island's town smoothed out into a rolling path towards the sandy shores. Sora stopped just at the top of the morning tide, watching the waves lap up and soak the sand quietly.

Time passed without him realizing it.

The wind picked suddenly picked up. Sora scowled, turning his gaze upwards from off the bright blue sea waters to the bright sky above. Before his unbelieving eyes, a familiar large but sleek form blocked out the glare of the sunlight. The nose of the aircraft slowly pivoted in the air towards him, showing off the red outer layer, the fully armed lasers and cannons, and, at last, the outward curve of the windshield. And beyond that-

The Gummi Ship's speakers came on with a loud click that made Sora flinch backwards and smile at the same time. "Howya doin' Sora?" Goofy's voice was accompanied by its owner's enthusiastic waving. Occupying the chair next to him, the Royal Court Magician, flapped a feathery arm over the communication controls- even from below, the brunette could pick out the exact buttons by memory- cutting off his comrade's voice mid-sentence.

His raspy voice came over, the tone urgent. "Sora, get in- we have to get going!" The gummi ship hovered lower towards the ground- the side hatch slid open with a small hiss. The brunette didn't need to hear the words twice; he grabbed a hold to the side of the opening and pulled himself up.

Goofy was there to help as usual- a large, welcome smile stretched over his face. "Good to see ya again- whoa!" The door had hissed shut, closing just as the ship lurched forward. The gangly form of his friend pinwheeled his arms for balance, smiling in relief when Sora grabbed a hold of one thin arm.

"What's the rush, Donald?" Sora asked, nodding in acknowledgment to the 'thanks' he received. Outside the windshield and side windows, the beach sand quickly flew out of view in favor of the town streets and buildings. "It's great to see you too, by the way." He smiled at the joke, but it quickly faded when the magician glanced back at him, expression apologetic. Obviously this was not just a friendly visit from old pals. "...so, what is going on?"

"We'll explain as soon as we pick up Kairi and Riku- are they nearby?" Donald asked, eyes trained back onto the rushing island below.

"They're both at Kairi's house."

Donald nodded, feathered hands already tapping commands into the Gummi Ship's navigation controls. The trip over the roofs of the town went by quickly- Sora watched it all go by from the wind shield, wondering what he would have thought of seeing the ship when before he had ever gone on one. He was sure his thoughts would be like those of anyone who saw them now- maybe awed, maybe frightened.

The ship began to slow down and descend towards the ground. Donald brought it to a gentle halt, still a foot above the lawn, in front of Kairi's yard. The front door burst open, revealing the startled faces of both Riku and Kairi- Riku hid his surprise easier and was soon striding quickly across the grass to the ship. Kairi followed behind him, eyes roaming over the Gummi ship from tip to tail, much more hesitantly.

The hatch door hissed open just as lights inside the ship began to pulse a deep, warning red. It was accompanied a second later by a pulsing, warbling beep from the audio speakers set into various points in the walls. Sora looked around in confusion- Donald's voice could barely be heard over the din. "Goofy-"

"Right. C'mon, ya guys- we gotta go!" Goofy helped both teens into the ship, having to stretch out his arm in order to get Kairi before the Gummi ship started to rise into the air again. Even then, it was something of a close call.

Sora grabbed onto the back of an empty chair as the ship suddenly lurched to one side. "Don-..ald..." His gaze had gone from the other teens back towards the outside scenery, and that's where it froze. Now down below, a group of portals spun into existence out of thin air, spewing Dusks and other Nobodies, twenty was how far he got before he lost count, onto the grass. They spread out, some towards Kairi's home, most fanning out down the street and into town. _No.. not again-_

"Go back- Donald, go back!!" The moving white shapes were soon lost to sight, much to Sora's dismay. "We can't just let Nobodies loose in Destiny Islands- what are you doing?!" They had faced hordes of Heartless and Nobodies in larger numbers than what he had seen arrive, but the magician seemed completely oblivious and pressed the button that the brunette knew would make the ship jump into the thin realm between all the worlds.

Only after the sky was the black of midnight, with the only light coming from far away worlds, did the Court Magician turn back towards the group. Real remorse showed in his eyes, enough that it cooled the brunette's temper a bit. "I'm sorry, but.. the King ordered us to get the three of you out if.. if the worst should happen." It was more difficult than usual to work out the last few words around the rasp in his voice.

"What's the worst that could happen..?"

This time Goofy answered, in a more subdued tone. "That King Mickey would go missing." He paused and, in an even quieter voice, added, "For good."

No one spoke for a few seconds. A wild flux of emotions- some he hadn't really felt for a long time, even when going up against the largest of Heartless to the most dangerous of Organization Thirteen members- swept through Sora. It made his heart beat a little faster, his hands go clammy. He couldn't imagine the King ever going missing permanently- not the one he knew; not the one who was wise and brave enough to leave the relative safety of his castle to go looking for answers before the chaos descended.

"All right," Riku said almost calmly- Sora could see the same worry in his eyes as he felt- in the broken silence, "what's going on this time?"

The ship leveled out and slowed to a crawling pace forward with another tap on one of its control panel. Donald twisted his chair around, trusting the Gummi ship on autopilot. He and Goofy traded parts of telling the story, keeping their heads turning from one to the other at every pause. The Magician started.

"The King came back with us after you and Riku defeated Xemnas, just like you all went back to the Destiny Islands. For a while, everything was like before the Heartless- quiet mornings, peaceful afternoons... Then, one day about a month ago, he calls the two of us in for a meeting.

"He didn't really tell us much. All he said was that he had one last journey to go on- alone. And, if we didn't receive a call from him once a week-"

"Every weekend." Goofy nodded, almost smiling to himself at remembering this detail.

"-once a week, then we were to come and pick the three of you up and take you to Twilight Town. He told us specifically not to follow or to try and find him- our first priorities were to keep you all safe... Otherwise, that's all we know."

Sora bit his lip. This was still not enough information to figure out what had gone wrong through all of the worlds now, except that it had to be serious. His thoughts went back to the other day, going through the conversation he had with Axel and the last time he had seen Kayleigh.

_He'll know._

"Wait a minute-" Sora snapped back to the present, "is Twilight Town where Axel and Kayleigh went to?" Donald and Goofy glanced at him in surprise, the magician squawking the redhead's name as the knight asked who's Kayleigh. The brunette studied their expressions, wondering whether they were joking or just misheard him, but he saw their confusion in their eyes. "The King didn't tell you?"

They shook their heads. Riku briefly brought them up to date on what they knew and what had happened back on Destiny Islands. The outside was slowly growing brighter, from midnight to the pinkish, peach hues of a sunset. Bright stars were mere yellow sparkles. Just as Riku came to an end, the source of the light finally sharpened in focus outside of the windshield; Sora studied the slow revolutions of the world ahead, remembering each detail before really seeing it.

He sensed the old feeling he had gotten the last time he had been in Twilight Town, talking with Master Yen Sid. How it felt to be jumping into the Gummi Ship from the Tower windows after such a long time asleep. It was the excitement and anticipation of another journey that was just beginning. Sora could feel the same tingling again, starting from his stomach up to his heart.

_Here we go again._ Sora inwardly smiled, already itching to get his feet back onto the ground of another world, onward to another trip.


	5. Chapter 5

Waz up? I have absolutely nothing else to say.., so, I'll just let you get to reading. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yeah- no. Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me. Just the OC. Tee-hee!

Chapter Five: Nobody's Plans Undone

* * *

The interior design of the room must have once been majestic, with its dark wood- carved carefully at the corners in twining leaves- and high windows, deep red rug with a gold, patterned border and fringe, and the set of furniture that, when whole and free of any splinters, was the same wood and intricate carving designs as the walls. The table that had once been placed directly in the center looked as if it had been just as sturdy and old-fashioned as everything else. 

Now, though, everything was covered with an inch-thick coat of dust, disturbed only by the most recent of newcomers. The grand table, and all but two of the cushioned chairs, was mere splinters and chunks of old wood lying like puzzle pieces on the rug. The curtains over the windows, lovely deep reds that once draped elegantly down to the sill, had been tied back recently- dust clung to it stubbornly around hand-shaped spots of clear fabric. The floor clearly outlined the foot prints- a dizzy arrangement that held no order.

But to her, it was all still in its prime years. Kayleigh ran her eyes over the splintered and ruined table, trying to imagine it whole with its owners seated around it. A happy family- mother, father, a young golden-haired child- laughing and thoroughly enjoying each others company while the very last of the twilight's sun light finally perished into night. No secrets, no ugly hidden evils waiting to destroy what lies above.

All just phantoms.

_I wonder what the rest of the mansion was like..._ Kayleigh blinked, the vision faded away immediately, leaving just the dust and broken wood. The heavy wooden door was shut closed, against the open space that was the mansion's foyer. If she had the choice, she would gladly wander and explore, moving slowly up the carpeted stairs to the hallway above, envisioning the building's interior in its past grandeur. Take a closer look at the slowly mildewing books left on the bookshelves in the Library- weed out some of the tinier gardens set behind the glass doors on the bottom floor, and soon start to basically clean the place back up. It was a shame that it had been left to rot at all.

She walked slowly back towards the window, every footstep echoed off the walls, and leaned her arms in the same spot against the sill. Outside, the fenced-in front yard- or maybe a better description was courtyard, with the decorative hedges, now growing with wild tangling hands up towards the sky- was empty and still. The large iron gate set in the opening of the brick walls was still locked with a heavy iron chain and Victorian-age lock. The sight did little to comfort or calm her.

"Hey, Axel," the brunette tucked an unruly lock of hair behind her ear, glancing away from the view towards the redhead lounging in one of the dusty chairs, "do you really think that Sora and the others are okay?" The thought had been lurking under all of the others since they had first arrived outside on the courtyard yesterday, unvoiced and buried.

Without ever moving his head from resting against his hand, his bright green eyes opened and rolled towards her. Something like a smile crossed his face. "Trust me, they're fine. Your King Mickey wouldn't have sent us anywhere near him if there was a chance of harm going his way from us being there."

She nodded. A part of her- a large part- desperately wanted to believe that, but the doubt would not leave.

"Right. Don't worry about it anymore, okay?" She nodded again, and Axel twisted his eyes away, brilliant eyes sliding closed once more.

Kayleigh turned back towards the window, this time barely seeing the bright sunshine hitting the leaves and the blades of grass. After awhile, she broke the silence with another buried question. "Why do you always say 'your King' instead of 'the King'... like everyone else? Isn't he your King too?" She wanted to turn around again, but she couldn't work up the courage to.

"...No. He's not my King."

"Why?"

The abrupt sound of wood scraping against wood rang harshly as Axel stood up, footsteps heavier on the floor than hers. "Maybe someday I'll tell you."

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean-"

"Don't be."

"-to pry or anything-"

"Kayleigh."

One word- just her name- was enough to make her shut her mouth. Her right hand continued to dance over the window sill, though, working out her nerves with random swirling patterns in the dust. Axel's gloved hand dropped down over hers, holding it still between his and the wood. Mouth suddenly dry, Kayleigh glanced upwards over her shoulder, meeting his gaze briefly.

Slowly but firmly, he repeated, "Don't. Be."

A shadow flitted across the window, momentarily blocking out the light from the light streaming into the room. Kayleigh tore her gaze off of his face, twisting back to the outside scene. A Gummi Ship, the large, clunky airship the King had piloted- or at least similar to the first one. The bruises on the paint from old laser hits had disappeared at some point- swung gently over the top of the fence, a wing gently brushing the branches of a bush as it came as close to the ground as it could without hitting anything.

The weight over her hand lifted, lighting down on her shoulder for barely a second. Axel's voice spoke closer to her ear. "There's your King now- c'mon, time to find out where our next little vacation is."

She heard him turn away and start walking towards the door. Kayleigh stepped back from the window sill, glancing out at the ship one last time. And froze. The hatch door had slid open, but it wasn't King Mickey who jumped out onto the ground, nor was it just one person. "S-Sora?!" The spikey-haired brunette, oblivious to any watching eyes, swung his eyes around the courtyard. Behind him, Riku and Kairi left the Gummi Ship, followed by two more she had never seen before.

Axel's footsteps came to an end. "..Sora? What are you-"

"Sora, Riku and Kairi are outside and- and... two others, but I don't see the King..." She trailed off, stepping off to the side as the redhead joined her, focusing his eyes down at the five outside. His mouth tightened into a line- green eyes hardening momentarily.

"..C'mon." No more sarcasm, no little jokes. All business now.

Kayleigh stuck close to the redhead out of the room, trying to match his long strides to the mansion's front doors. Her stomach was tied up into knots, hands clenched up tight to keep from trembling, mouth held so tightly closed so that none of the inner panic could escape. This sudden visit was not a good sign- every thread of her body knew that, and wanted to run from the inevitable. _What's going to happen now?_

* * *

"...and that's why we're here." Sora finished the brief, basic recapping, swinging his eyes around the room to his audiences. No one looked any more relaxed or at peace since they had all first gone upstairs into a long, plain white room (Namine's work room when he had been asleep according to Riku) to get caught up with each other. Donald and Goofy casted Axel with a glare, and Kayleigh a curious glance, every so often. Kairi had wandered around the room- steering clear of the redhead- and ended up by the window. Riku kept whatever emotions he was feeling inside, nodding in the appropriate places where necessary. 

As for the two who were hearing the news for the first time, Axel was like Riku: motionless and quiet throughout it all. Kayleigh's face, already a light pallor, went even paler. Alarm shone clearly in her eyes.

Silence followed the speech, ending when Riku turned his gaze towards the Nobody and asked, "Did the King give you any instructions for such an emergency?"

Axel shook his head. "All he said to do was to come here if we couldn't stay on whatever world we were at."

"Those Nobodies... they were after you, weren't they?"

"Look- how about if I start from the beginning?" No one had to answer 'yes' or even nod; Axel took a second to gather his thoughts and then launched right into the story, just as the others turned to face him. "About a month ago, your Kin- the King- brought me back to life. Don't ask me how, I don't know.

"Anyways... He asked me to look after Kayleigh, just for a little bit and then I'd be allowed to live however I wished. Since then, Kay' and I have hopped from one world to another, staying for maybe a week at a time. Each little stay ended the same way as back on your world: Nobodies show up, then attack or chase us off.

"Your King saved Destiny Island for last, I think. He didn't want to involve you guys at all if he could help it, but obviously..." The redhead shrugged, leaving the words unsaid- not that any one of them needed the obvious restated. "Anyways, he told us to come here in the case of an emergency- and with no where else to go after your Island and with the Nobodies there, we were left with here." He gestured around the space, clearly giving off the impression that he didn't really like the place at all.

Sora considered the story, fitting it into the open spaces that they knew already. It didn't fill much up. He saw Riku glance up off the floor towards Axel- at some point his head had ducked down as if he was going to go to sleep while standing and resting against the wall- and asked softly, "About those Nobodies.., they're chasing you down because of Kayleigh, right? Since the King brought you back to look after her and all..."

Kayleigh jumped at the suggestion, letting out a small 'eep' behind the hand that flew up to her face. Axel gave her a sidelong glance, clearly thinking. "...Yeah.," he answered after awhile. "Whoever's controlling the Nobodies now are after her." He paused, and then directly asked her, "Don't suppose you know why at all, Kay'?"

The brunette shook her head.

"Do you?" Sora asked Axel point blank. The guy always knew more than he let on. That was his style- give out enough to leave 'em dangling, and then slowly- ever so slowly- relinquish the rest. After a load of begging had been done.

"Nope with a capitol 'N.'"

He doubted that, but he let it go.

Off to the side, Kairi shifted her weight from one foot to another as she turned back towards the rest of the group. "Axel," she started softly, hesitantly, gaining strength in her voice after a brief second, "aren't you supposed to be able to control the Dusks?" Sora glanced over at her, both surprised and pleased at the point. Axel had once demonstrated such abilities- up until the last fight before he... well, died, in the space known as Betwixt and Between.

The redhead sighed. "No. The 'why' is going to take a bit of an explanation, so give me a moment and trust me on this, okay?" The tone in his voice made it clear who the last bit had been directed towards; Donald sputtered once, but obediently quieted- a ghost smile stretched Riku's mouth slightly. "The way it works, a lower level, more common and weaker form of Nobody- Dusks- are subservient to stronger members. To a point.

"Let's say that some person- a Nobody like me- is put into a dangerous situation where harm to themselves are unavoidable, and- for whatever reason- there's a Dusk also nearby. That Dusk is going to realize two things. A: The person in danger is a Nobody. B: A member of its own kind is in danger. What it'll do is rush to that person's aid, putting its life on the line without a second thought to its own safety. Purely by instinct, okay?

"Right. Now, let's say its the same situation, only that Dusk isn't nearby by accident. It has specific orders from above, and even though it recognizes the same facts as before, it won't rush in to help out that Nobody, probably. Unless one of three things occur..

"A: Its orders were to keep said person safe.

"B: The person in danger is stronger than whomever gave the Dusk its instructions.

"Or C: The person in danger calls on the Dusk for help, since he or she has received some control over a group of Nobodies from the... well, the Master Nobody."

Sora scowled. "The Master Nobody..? What's that?"

Axel sighed, but submitted to the direction the interruption was going in. "Remember Xemnas? He was the Master Nobody up until you got to him. Back when the Organization was new, he gave us control over Dusks and one different type of Nobody, which made us something like a general over a part of an army... But he could also take that away- demote a member, basically- too. Got it?" The Keyblade Master nodded slowly; it explained why the redhead had been unable to just order the Dusks to leave. "Good. Anyways, all of that vanished once Xemnas died."

"But the Nobodies aren't disorganized or attacking at random," Riku said softly, "Actually, since they are following you, then it seems like there's another Organization out there." His blue eyes met Axel's in a piercing stare. "Right?"

"Yep."

Kairi's mouth dropped open. "But that means-"

"Yep- the previous Second in Command has taken up the role of Master." The redhead twirled one hand around, ending up by pointing up at the ceiling- a usual gesture for him. '_And thus, class..._' "And that brings us back to the beginning. Any ideas, anyone?"

* * *

Okay, so not much happened, but more will in the next chapter... Errrr... hope ya like it, and I apologize for the wait. Till later- see ya! 


	6. Chapter 6

Okay... I've been gone for a while- sorry for the wait- and also I apologize for the clumped up paragraphs... errrr... Thanks for reading though, and reviewing, and I'm glad that people are enjoying it. So... enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nothing out of Kingdom Hearts belongs to moi, 'cept the OC.

* * *

Chapter Six: Nobody's Gone

The group lapsed into an uneasy silence afterwards, which he did little to try and alleviate. Unlike Sora, he had a healthy amount of natural suspicion and paranoia that had helped him to survive Ansem's ghost from rehabilitating his body and succumbing to Maleficent's brand of evil before. Now there was another unpredictable element- one more amid too many others- added into the situation, and even if the brunette would count on one battle to determine Axel's allegiance, most of the others would not, Riku included. It was enough of a shock that he was back, but now to bring him into the group as well...  
Riku glanced over at the others from the corner of his eye. Kairi and Donald were both giving the redhead darted glances, both uneasy still and perhaps suspicious as well of his presence. Sora, Goofy and Kayleigh, though, seemed mostly unconcerned. Not too surprising on either side- Sora was never one to take time to consider all of the possibilities, and Goofy relied on his observations. Useless in the case of a Nobody, really. As for Kayleigh, well she had apparently been left in his care for some time- just long enough that she trusted him.  
Fool.  
The silver-haired teen slowly straightened his back and raised his head for the first time since they had all come upstairs. He would feel much better if there was even the slightest hint to the King's location; even if King Mickey was captured by this new Master Nobody, Riku knew that the King would be fine. It was when there was nothing at all to base that hope on that faith got shaky. Faith.. He was always telling me to have that, no matter what was going on. _All right, King Mickey, I'll try. _  
But at the first sign of betrayal- good bye Axel.  
Sora was the one who finally broke the silence, and what he proposed didn't surprise Riku much. "We should go search for the King. Even if he isn't in trouble," a small pause, which everyone knew that his, and their own, thoughts did not match the hope that the King was completely safe, just detained, "he knows more than all of us on what's going on. On the new Organization or Master Nobody or.. or whatever- he always knew what was going on. He'll know what to do next."  
Axel was already shaking his head before the brunette finished. "Uh-huh, bad idea." Donald and Goofy both bristled at the remark, the wizard more than the knight. "The King told your friends not to come after him, which probably means that his captors are waiting for us to give up our location. Even if you take short trips out of Twilight Town, it won't take too long for them to track you back down to here."  
"So? We have to find them at some point, too."  
"Yeah, preferably not by handing over their target first, though. Kinda defeats the purpose if you walk right into their hands." He gestured towards Kayleigh. "Whatever he wants us to do is right here in this crumbling place."  
Riku inwardly smiled, pleased that someone- surprise, surprise, Axel of all present- had provided the point he had thought of but didn't want to say. If he was right, then the King did leave something behind, and he bet he knew where that message, or email of a sort, would be located.  
"We should split up then and search the entire grounds- building and courtyard." If they were lucky, the redhead would opt for the outside and disappear. "I'll take the library and basement," the silver-haired teen added quickly.  
Sora seemed to consider the suggestion briefly, as usual. He nodded, expression purposeful. "Yeah, okay. I'll take the upper floor."  
Donald gestured between Goofy and himself. "We'll search outside."  
"I guess I'll..," Kairi glanced between the group during her brief silence. At last she came to some conclusion and finished her thought, mostly to the other girl, "Kayleigh, do you want to partner up with me for the ground floor?"  
Riku watched Axel's face for his reaction, waiting for him to make an objection. To his surprise, the redhead said nothing on the subject, just merely looked back at the brunette when she glanced at him for guidance.  
Kayleigh turned away, a small smile over her face, and nodded.  
_Good, _Riku thought to himself, eyes sliding away from the majority of the group to the one potential troublemaker. _Just one more... _  
"Guess that leaves me with you," the Nobody's green eyes were on him again, cold and piercing as ever. The words came out lightly, but the teen could hear the promise make in his tone, just loud and clear enough that Sora glanced up sharply at the two of them, silently asking to know what was going on.  
Riku kept from looking at the brunette. "Guess so." After a brief glaring match, he glanced around the room. The others had already split up into their groups or lonesomes. "We'll meet back up here after two hours, okay?" Mutual nods- he expected nothing less than that. "Let's go."  
They left the room in their groups, separating from each other at the staircase. An hour and fifty-nine minutes left, slowly vanishing with each ticking sound.

* * *

The library had gone the way of the rest of the mansion, albeit all of the furniture and curtained windows were still in one piece. A lone table, chair-less and now covered with a thin layer of dust, stood in the center of the open tiled flooring. Riku stepped out onto the square patch of muted orange-brown at first cautiously, and then quickly strode the rest of the distance to the table. A part of his mind couldn't help but wonder whether he'd be spilled downwards through the floor- the machinery had been built to last for only so long.  
Axel stayed behind, keeping to the narrow band of carpeting that ran right up against the adjacent wall of the door, next to the two bookcases set- not just against, but into- the wall. As Riku stopped in front of the low wooden edge of the table, the Nobody announced, "The bird statue's missing."  
The teen glanced over one shoulder. The white shelves displayed rows of books- all undisturbed, probably for years now- except for an open space to the far right one. Last time Riku had gone inside the mansion, a stone crane- or a very long-mouthed gargoyle with feathers- had been set into that space. It had almost taken up the entire shelf, even with its small body and wings tucked to its sides. The head, topped at a long, graceful neck, stared down at the ground- the exact spot beneath the table to be exact.  
Now it was gone.  
Riku smiled to himself and turned back to the table. The disappearance was a good sign; it had done its job as a clue- a rather obvious one in his opinion, even back then- but it would not be wise to leave it around for those who should not be allowed to glimpse any instructions left behind, now would it? _Good job, your Majesty. _A small flare of triumph surged up inside him; he had been right.  
"Good," he answered at last, letting none of his thoughts out for Axel to hear in his voice, "It was an ugly statue."  
There was no reply. Riku gently brushed aside the dust collected over the smooth top. Namine's drawing, etched onto the dust-free wood in a yellow crayon a long time ago. Even without any guiding lines, she had drawn the ornate design perfectly, creating exact circles in a triangle; two on top, one at the bottom. Three different symbols were meant to go in each one- two were already drawn in.  
A heart, crossed out in a 'X' of thorns, represented the Heartless beings. To its right, the upside down heart with clipped and angular curves, run through by a sword (according to the King, that was what the long, spiked top was supposed to be) was meant to symbolize a being lacking the heart and the soul, an empty shell, the Nobodies. Together, the branches came down at an angle to the third circle and symbol: a crown, depicting a whole and complete person.  
_Just what a person should always be. _Memories of his time swallowed and possessed, literally, by darkness- times of endless struggles and swings between blind hope and crushing despair- threatened at the edge of his mind; they were shoved rudely aside. Even so, the old fear, the only nightmare that ever truly sent a shiver through him and broke up his nights from sleep into shaking wakefulness, came back. Whispered in his ears threats and promises of things to happen that he'd rather die than to allow them to occur again, so much so that he had to remind himself once more, _He's gone- Xehanort is dead, and he'll never come anywhere near me again.  
So shut up!  
_The whispers and fears retracted their bony claws slowly. Riku shook the rest of it away with a shake of his head, and placed his right hand over the empty third circle. He pressed down until he heard a hollow click- an echo from far below. Roxas had drawn the crown in with a piece of chalk- brushed away now- but all that was really needed was the pressure on the wood- ingenious design by Ansem.  
A light appeared under the table, growing outwards in a swirling mist allow the floor tiles. Riku turned and raced back for the carpet border. His feet just stepped onto the softer surface when there was a sudden bright flash of the light; he glanced back over one shoulder to find that the tiles and the table had vanished, gone the way computer programs do after they are 'x-ed' out (Ansem, what a guy).  
A set of stairs, unadorned by any carpeting or rugs like the two in the Mansion's foyer, had appeared against the wall, angling down to the lower level of metal. Two doorways were set into the metallic walls, with a light over the top of each door frame. Debris, scrap metal and broken bits of wood from elsewhere in the mansion, was piled up in front of the door with the red light. The second door, right next to the stairway, was left open: the light overhead was a bright green, the last cheery thing before the darkness beyond it.  
Riku shouldered past the Nobody, simply for the chance to hit him. He thought he saw the smallest of smirks on the other's face, but he didn't glance back to check, nor looked at the redhead until they were downstairs in the inky darkness further below. Even with the absence of light, Riku transversed the room with ease, stopping next to an unoccupied, high-back chair and in front of the impressive array of keyboards and monitors. He placed a hand on one of the keyboards and tapped a key; the monitors flared to life, spilling out soft blue light. Placed along each of the walls, the computers were more like eyes, slightly unnerving but also useful in providing something to see by.  
Unfortunately, they still had to boot up, so Riku took the opportunity to check on the Nobody, thinking, _He better not be messing with anything_, and ended up taking a surprised step back. His leg bumped into the chair; its swinging went unnoticed by him.  
The redhead's face was twisted and scrunched up with pure, utter hatred, turning what could pass for a snotty punk into something more like a gargoyle. His cat eyes were no longer cold, but burned his feelings for all to see. He stood perfectly still, yet his hands were clenched up into tight fists.  
It took a few seconds for Riku to realize that the target was not him, but the computer setup behind him- a fact that was further proven when Axel's gaze flicked towards the Data Converter: the very piece of technology used to transport an object into the computer program.  
"I hope you realize," Axel started slowly in a low, barely restrained voice, "that I would never let you put Kayleigh in that... that thing."  
"Fortunately, its not up for you to decide." The light shifted, became slightly dimmer as the computer finished loading, and Riku turned back around to begin his search, adding, "You're under the King's orders- if he left a message saying to convert into a program, then we're doing it."  
"That mouse made me her bodyguard, and I mean to actually keep her from harm."  
"Then why aren't you upstairs with Sora?"  
"I trust Sora, not you." There was a moment of silence, filled in only by the tapping keys.  
Finally, Riku spared a glare up at a blank monitor, where a reflection of the Nobody was seen on its semi-curved surface. "Likewise." It wasn't so much a reply as it was a snapped remark, holding a piece of his thoughts and feelings towards the redhead than a devoted speech could provide. And if the look he received in return was the same way, then he didn't need to hear Axel's response.  
He glanced back to the working monitor. Surprise momentarily caught his attention as a small window popped up on the screen of its own accord. _I knew it- I knew it would be here-  
_Triumph turned to bone chills and stilled heart beats as the first screams began.

* * *

Going through the ground-level floors set around the lobby after splitting up from the group did not take long. Several of the rooms were barred from access by splintered wooden boards- old relics from tables, chairs, maybe even from a wall itself- piled up high against the doors, so that only the top inch of the door frame was visible. At these obstacles, Kayleigh and Kairi exchanged looks and moved on to the next one. The rooms they could immediately get into were completely message-less; all of the them, no matter what purpose they served as once, were covered with dust and were more or less furniture-less.  
Kayleigh saw the quiet disappointment and near-frustration on Kairi's face at the end of every search and respectfully kept silent. In her mind, she let her imagination go, and filled the room with the dark wooden chairs, bookcases and what else, open windows with whole, clean panes of glass looking out on a sunny day of colorful flowers, sounds of laughter, and the people it all belonged to. Once she smiled to herself as Kairi and she entered a room, seeing not the broken coffee table and two old, molding chairs, but the family inside, welcoming them both with wide friendly smiles. Come in, come in. Stay for a while- we'd love it if you stayed; everyone is welcome (even Axel would receive and return a smile to these people, whomever they were).  
Now, though, they had retreated to the foyer for the very end of the search. Kayleigh went straight for the area between the two staircases, where double glass doors was set into the wall paper peeling walls. Thick nets of cobwebs formed triangles in the upper corners and along the top of the door frame, showing up brightly against the amount of dust and dirt already accumulated over the glass. The curved handles, once a bright gold color, were rusty and dull.  
Kayleigh used the hem of her shirt to wipe a small space of the door clean. She bent down, holding a hand up to the glass to cut the glare, and looked through. Outside, everything had gone to the wild a long time ago. The path, leading straight from the doorway until it curved off to the right, behind a large, overgrown and thorny rose bush, was covered by stray weeds and stretching branches. Plants were growing up in the cracks, breaking up the stones that made up the path into even smaller pieces. Few flowers were blooming- Kayleigh smiled at the attempts the rose bush was making to keep its buds as bright red as possible.  
_It must have been beautiful once- _  
"Wow," the voice, so unexpected, broke through her thoughts and made her jump up into the air. Kairi did not notice, or if she did, pretended not to. "I bet that was quite the garden once, ya know? Very colorful."  
Kayleigh studied the auburn-haired girl's face, finally turning away again, figuring that she had meant her words. "Yeah..." Her eyes ran over the rose bush again, and then she noticed that there were even more spotted liberally, here and there, among the rest of the plants, fighting for space and life. The desire to wander through it, to explore the 'mysterious' garden, came over her so strongly, she was surprised to find one hand already on the old handle; the metal was cold, but smooth and welcoming. "Hey, you want to go take a closer look?" She glanced back at Kairi, aware of the thread of hope creeping into her voice and immediately getting more nervous.  
Thank goodness, Kairi nodded, smiling even. "Sounds good- I hate being cooped up inside for too long." She had one door open long before she finished talking; Kayleigh gladly pushed the handle down and tried to push her side open: it would not budge. Smiling sheepishly at Kairi- silly me- the brunette went through the other side, sticking close behind Kairi as they both wandered further inside.  
The garden really was a garden; no ceiling, sun roofs or not, covered their heads. Real sunlight shone down on their heads, cool air swept around the Mansion's corners into the surrounded area. They kept to the path, even as it curved first to one side and then back out to the other, until they came back to where they started at. Archways, old wooden constructions now hidden under by ambitious vines, were set at regular intervals, leading into another, inner circle that also curved in and out. Each ring was not much different from the other, except the next one was smaller, and the state of decomposition was going at varying rates.  
And so on, until Kayleigh spied the very end of the walk over Kairi's shoulder. She tapped the girl's shoulder, and pointed to a small clearing through another archway- Kairi led the way once again, stepping off to one side to let the brunette stand by her side. Kayleigh barely noticed, her attention was solely on their surroundings.  
The clearing was set up as another circle, without the gently in and out curves. A ring of bushes, all roses, all dead or dying with withering blooms at the end of their branches, was set around the base of an old, stone fountain, with a statue set on a pedestal in its middle. The stone may have once been a pale or rose pink, the details that were cut into it sharp and exact, if age had not gotten to it. The lower part was a simple bowl, an over-sized birdbath, with ornate carvings as a decoration around its rim and outside middle- of fairies with delicate wings, wispy spirits, numerous other creatures, all traveling through not just a garden, but a field of roses. The statue was made out of the same stone, but it was one figure. A woman, dressed in a long, flowing gown with a cloak tied around her slim neck, stood straight and tall, her face pointed up towards the sky. Long hair, chiseled out by a skillful hand that made it look windblown in perfect stillness, tumbled down her back, down to her waist. Her right hand held a wild rose delicately around its thorns- its shed petals rested at her sandal-ed feet, barely seen beneath the folds of her dress- and in her left, she held a staff tightly. The top scooped out, as if another stone once sat there, but it was gone. The expression on her face, as far as Kayleigh could tell, was one that showed her serene dignity that spoke of wisdom attained through long life. But she wasn't old, she was possibly in her higher twenties, low thirties, but not ancient.  
Kairi wandered in closer to the statue, bending in close to the bottom half for closer inspection. A light bulb turned on in her head- Kayleigh saw it in her eyes, the way they widened and lit up. "Hey, c'mon here, look at this!" She stepped to one side, letting the brunette walk up and take a close look at what she had pointed out.  
Set into the stone, a small hollow hole is carved, shaped once again as a rose, no larger than the size of a quarter. Nothing special, Kayleigh figured.  
"I think I saw something like this inside... Hold on a minute, I'll be right back-" Without another word and not even waiting for another reply, Kairi ran off, disappearing from view on the twisting paths again. Soon, it was completely quiet once again.  
The minutes stretched on. Kayleigh shoved her worry away- _She'll be back, maybe she just got a little lost in the garden.. its not hard to get lost, not with everything so overgrown and all_- and settled down on the ground in front of the fountain and statue. She had to arch her neck back to see, but she didn't mind. The statue itself gave off waves of peace, demanded the quiet the garden provided and those inside had to follow. Kayleigh closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying it.  
It was all shattered too quickly; the girl started in surprise at a loud explosion. The lighter patter of glass was barely audible, but the screams were. Once, twice, almost three times, except something cut it off. Kayleigh stumbled up to her feet, heart racing, trying to run before she was standing and only succeeding in falling again.  
Finally, finally she made it. Ran back in the direction of the garden's doors. The one door was still opened, now only barely hanging on by a hinge, the glass had been blown out. Inside, the foyer was in more shambles than before; the model-size of the Mansion set up as a display in the center had been obliterated to little pieces, scattering wood among the rest of the debris from before, and new chunks. Donald and Goofy were standing in the front door, what was left of it, Sora stood at the top of a staircase, staring with an angry blue glare towards the ceiling. Riku and Axel popped out from the Library seconds later, stopping close to the teen.  
Kayleigh followed their gazes, surprise and terror making her freeze, caught between fleeing and staying. Hanging suspended in the air, Kairi was being held captive in the grip of a large, chubby, cat-like being, holding her with ease despite all of her struggling. He looked ill to be up so high in the air, his face was a pale shade of green and he constantly looked down at his feet then back up just as quickly, a touch paler than before. The gloating triumphant expression he was going for was seriously compromised.  
The woman next to him, standing tall and at ease, conjured thoughts of doom. Even the sunlight streaming in behind them could not soften the angular lines of her face or cast the black dress-shroud with its hood topped with spiraling dragon horns a friendlier look. Narrowed, yellow eyes glowed only with malevolence down at those below. One pale, bony hand clutched a dark staff, the other hung by her side, hidden in the folds of the sleeves. At the very tip of the staff, a globe clutched in place by the dark wood was surrounded by otherworldly green fire, as if it was a torch.  
She did not even flinch as Sora shouted, "Let her go, Maleficent!"  
The name sent a jolt through Kayleigh. She felt suddenly small, and scared, the feel of rough fabric held tight in her hands, wishing for mama to come back, and only those cold yellow eyes looking down at her. Silent. Awesome. Terrifying.  
As quickly as it- whatever it was- came over her, it was gone. Kayleigh shook and raised her head, unaware she had even dropped it to begin with. At some point, Axel had appeared in front of her, chakrams held in his hands at the ready. The last of the smoke from teleporting was drifting away. He kept his eyes on the two newcomers, asking her in a low voice. "You okay?"  
"Y-yeah, fine." She glanced past his shoulder, and felt another shudder pass through her. But for everything in the world, she could not look away.  
Maleficent's gaze had turned onto her, glaring, the staff held a little higher, poised as if to strike. Such anger. Hatred.  
Slowly, so slowly, the woman lowered the staff and turned back to Sora, a sly smile curving her thin lips upwards. With a graceful sweep of her arm, green flames engulfed all three of them, leaving nothing behind but her parting words.  
"Consider my offer. You have until tomorrow night."  
She was gone, but Sora's agonized cry of denial echoed on. Kayleigh clutched onto the back of the redhead's robe, glad that he was there when the world was crumbling once more.


	7. Chapter 7

Yo. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy. So- read, review, enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Not a thing, outside of my OC

* * *

Chapter Seven: Nobody's Trust

Sora felt Riku's arms around him, holding him back, and could care less. He struggled as hard as he could, throwing himself in any and every direction. All he could think of was Kairi- Kairi trying to shake Pete's grip off, Kairi screaming, Kairi disappearing with her captors in a burst of flames.

_No, no- Not again..._"Riku, let me go-!"

Riku didn't reply, just held him tighter.

Finally, an eternity later, his energy and strength waned. Sora slumped, tired, stumbling forward a step and grabbing ahold of the banister when Riku let him go. No one spoke. Sora heard just his breathing, harsh in the quiet. His mind replayed the event once more, and a sudden fury surged up inside him, making his hand clench tightly over the wood.

"Sora?" He couldn't recognize who had ventured to break the silence.

He raised his eyes, looking at each one in turn. "We're going after her. Now- before Maleficent has a chance to set up any traps. We already know where she's going." Sora made himself stop talking, made himself stay where he was even though his body just wanted to get moving and run and beat the sorceress to her own destination. Now.

_'How about this? We'll make a trade.'_

Standing there, frozen, at the staircase. Staring, shocked, as Kairi struggles in vain, up in the air. Listening, dumbfounded and in disbelief, as Maleficent goes on calmly, assured and confident, in her silky voice.

_'The girl, Kayleigh, in exchange for your dear friend.'_

Seeing, in clear details seen through horror's magnifying glass, the frightened, panic look in Kairi's blue eyes. Eyes of crystal, he always thought, fragile and yet impervious crystal.

_'Bring her to my new castle before midnight tomorrow-'_

Now the anger, now the will to act and resist comes back.

_'-or else I will be forced to turn Kairi into a Heartless.'_

Defeat.

He came back to the present, where Riku was shaking his head. "We can't just rush in, Sora. We need to figure out what to do with Kayleigh's situation first, and then go after her. This isn't like our other battles- someone kidnapped the King crying out loud! Things are more serious.."

"You think Kairi being turned into a Heartless isn't serious?! That it isn't worth our attention?" The brunette scoffed, "Some friend you are."

Riku's face started going red, meaning his words had hit a deep nerve. In their younger days, the argument probably would have ended in a fight, with one or the other (usually Sora) ending up with their face in the sand. If it came to that again, though, Sora was not sure whether he would be able to resist the temptation to bash someone's face in.

In fact, the only thing that stopped him from summoning his keyblade in his right hand and charging his friend, was Donald softly touching his arm and saying, "Kairi's important to Riku, Sora- she's important to all of us, too.. I think he just means that have to have a plan first. Like how we can't go after the King without knowing more stuff on what's goin' on."

Goofy's hands fell onto his shoulders, meaning to be comforting and yet jarring at the same time. "Besides, the only sure way we have to get Kairi back is trustin' Maleficent's promise and tradin' Kayleigh over- an' we can't do that!"

"Well, why-" Sora snapped his mouth shut, immediately ashamed at what he nearly let slip out. _Well, why not?_He knew the answer to that himself, without having to throw it back at Goofy. In front of Riku and Donald, in front of Kayleigh. He did not want to say that thought out loud to them, nor even hint that it had been there at all.

_What is wrong with me? _Somehow, he managed to nod in agreement to his friend's words. "All right," Sora said quietly, "then what can we do?"

Riku gave him a small smile, a silent 'thanks' and apology all in one. From there, the brunette let the other teen take the leadership again. Barely noticing anyone else, nodding in all of the appropriate spots, he let them go on and stayed behind with Kairi in his thoughts.

* * *

The room felt cold; more than just from the darkness. The computer monitors, all lit but empty, nothing but pale blue light. The rest of the equipment, laid dormant in some deep freeze. If Axel had not been standing close by her side, face nearly as red as his hair, silent waves of anger wafting off of him like heat, Kayleigh figured she would probably be shivering.

Riku was hunched over the keyboards in front of the entire group, hand tapping the keys one at a time. The machine to her right suddenly beeped, buttons and little windows of light popping up into life. She glanced over towards it. Like everything else in the basement, the structure, what Riku had called a 'Data Converter', was still shrouded mostly in the dark, but what she could see did nothing to reassure her. It was made of metal and in a bizarre way, it looked as though it would swallow a person whole as soon as they stepped into the opening.

"This is a really stupid idea," Axel said in a voice she had only heard once before, back when the King had made him her bodyguard. "In case you have amnesia, I managed to break into the last program- what makes you think it won't happen again?"

Kayleigh crossed her arms tightly over her chest, giving the redhead a quick look. Riku had outlined the entire 'plan' to the group as he led them here, and since then, not one of Axel's arguments had fallen on deaf ears; up until then, he had kept quiet, but stayed next to her, practically elbow to elbow. And he had been, and still was, the only one against the plan.

For the first time, she was not sure who to follow: the King's orders, or Axel.

Riku, nor any of the others, answered the redhead and with one last tap on the keyboard, looked over his shoulder at her. "Kayleigh- it's ready whenever you are."

_Already?_ She had been hoping it would take longer. "Axel-" Her voice was barely over a whisper, it would not have surprised her if he hadn't heard her.

The redhead sighed. Replied as softly, "If you're okay with this, Kay', then I am too. Really." But he turned his eyes away from hers too quickly, his hand at his side struggled to relax.

Kayleigh bit her lip, gave the Data Converter another quick look. Everyone else's eyes were on her, she could feel them watching her every move, waiting in uneasy impatience. The plan was good, she guessed, better than they could probably come up with any other way.

_'Let her go, Maleficent!'_

The brunette squeezed her eyes shut, the words and memory as loud as if Sora had shouted those words once again in her ear. _No, I have to... _

With one last breath, meant to stregthen her resolve but only made her more nervous, Kayleigh stepped into the cold, waiting machine. The sound of her feet hitting the metal plating bottom echoed softly. Surrounded on three sides by metal, she felt tiny, enclosed in a cage.

"You're ready?" Riku asked softly, hand held at the ready over the keyboard.

She made the mistake of looking at the rest of the group before answering. The light thrown by the computer screen glinted off of their's, and casted strange shadows over their faces. The sight did even less to help. Her eyes met Axel's as she finally nodded one last time; he was trying to look calm, but his lips were pressed too tightly together, his skin was paler in the gloom. His green eyes was almost bright enough to cast their own light over his face- they shone something she would guess to be worry.

"Here we go-"

There was a click followed by a blinding flash of light. Pinpricks of heat ran all over her body, from side to side and up and down, until she felt warm all over. Kayleigh squeezed her eyes shut, not opening them until she felt like herself again, bringing the last image of the basement with her- of Axel's face and eyes.

She was surprised. For all of the worrying he had done, this wasn't so bad. _I should tell him- it didn't hurt._

* * *

Too soon, she was gone, out of sight and out of his ability to protect her. Axel started at the sudden rap of keys in the relatively still room, and tore his glare off the Data Converter. Riku was already hunched over the keyboard in front of the monitors; the redhead sensed the others left in the basement staying out of his way if they moved at all.

No one said a word.

Some of the screens behind Riku had woken up; streams of numbers packed into tight rows or columns moved across one- words, strings of them glowing bright white against the pale blue background, in no apparent, particular order, over another one. The ones in the middle caught his attention; the creator of the entire program had set four of the screens up to reveal targeted parts of the hologram, switching to other views after every few seconds. In the very center, the camera followed a specified target- whomever was put inside.

A little bit of relief eased him up as he watched Kayleigh slowly appeared on the screen, whole and unharmed.

_Good._ Even where she had ended up looked safe. In the bright, pseudo-sunshine, the flowering garden could not possibly hold anything more worrisome than a pesky bee. _Still,_ the redhead narrowed his eyes back into a glare, feeling the familiar taste of anger rising up,_ if anything happens to her in there- _

Riku finished with whatever it was he had been doing, and turned back towards them, eyes zeroing on someone just behind the redhead's shoulder. "Sora, you ready?" he asked.

"...Yeah, sure-"

The brunette moved towards the Data Converter; Axel grabbed onto the younger teen's shoulder, holding him still and drawing the boy's gaze up to meet his. "Keep your eyes open and pay attention. I'm counting on you to do my job- don't. Mess. Up." Neither the wizard's disgruntled squawk nor the feel of Riku's glare setting on the back of his head kept him from giving his warning.

Sora shook his grip off, surprising Axel by casting a sharp look in return. The boy's blue eyes had gone a shade darker with the same anger that dripped off every word in his response. "Same here. Bring Kairi back in one piece and I'll keep Kayleigh safe." He stepped into the Data Converter, turning back towards them, the glare still there. "Don't mess up my job, Axel."

He disappeared in another prolonged interval of bright light. The monitor screens went through another frenzy of words and numbers. Finally it calmed down, and the brunette reappeared in the garden, behind Kayleigh. Axel watched her twist around, betting he knew the exact words that would come out of her mouth, and the way the spark of surprise in the back of her eyes would melt away to light a shy smile after she recognized her friend-

Axel tore his eyes off the screen. By pure accident he found Riku next. The frustration came back. "Remind me again," Axel growled, folding his arms over his chest and straightening up to his full height, "why it has to be this way?"

"Teleporting is the quickest mode of transportation to Hollow Bastion, and you're the only one in the group who can accomplish that while bringing another person with you. Donald and Goofy have a basic knowledge of computers- enough to keep one running smoothly for a while and keep any visiting Nobodies away while we're gone. I'm going with you to Villian's Vale because I know the building's layout, and that leaves Sora as Kayleigh's bodyguard. Time is completely of the essence, and this is the best arrangement we can do." He held a small communication device up for Axel to see, and added, "If anything does go wrong, we'll be in touch with Donald and Goofy, and vice versa."

Finished with his speech, the teenager slipped the com device into his pants pocket, daring with his eyes to have his plan challenged again.

As if there was any possible alternative. Still, Axel didn't like it. "Fine." The redhead took one last glance at the monitors before opening a portal. Through the window into the realm of darkness, he could already hear the beating of Hollow Bastion's heart.

Riku stepped past him, and without a moment's hesitation, walked through. Axel took a little longer, but eventually twisted away from the basement computer, reminding himself that Kayleigh would be safe in Sora's hands. She better be.

The darkness closed in around him, almost relief enough.


	8. Chapter 8

*Sorry for such a long wait- thank you so much for reading, I hope you are all enjoying. ^_^*

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing out of Kingdom Hearts, save my OC.

* * *

Chapter Eight: Nobody's Trip

Sunlight hit him full in the face, momentarily blinding him. Sora winced, and raised an arm over his eyes in the vain attempt to block it out. Wind blew, something solid hit his leg in the breeze.

"..Sora..?"

The wind died down. The brunette lowered his arm, blinking slowly. Kayleigh stood a few feet in front of him; her hands were clasped behind her back, a small smile over her face. They were both standing in the middle of a flowering garden, full of various types of plants and shrubs.

Behind her, a twisting, lopsided tower climbed into the sky, the very top of it was lost to the eye. Small windows, spaced in uneven intervals all over the sand and cream-colored stones, spiraled upwards. Smaller towers, appendages off the sides of the main building, arched out into open air, topped by a cone-shaped, orange roof.

The sky, and the horizon around them, was blended shades of colors; from deep, luxurious violets to cherry reds. He looked over his shoulder, finding a tall, voluptuous willow- mint green branches swung gracefully in the breeze. The land itself sloped gently downwards, until it ended, abruptly, like a cliff edge with tufts of grass at the very end. Beyond it, balanced impossibly like buoys in a sea, other land masses dotted the area. Both tops, uninhabitated by anything but sparse grass, and bottoms, craggy and dried bits of earth and rocks, could be seen. Train tracks, shining silver strings of spider webs, curved out of sight into the horizon.

Sora glanced back towards Kayleigh and the tower behind her. "I know where we are.."

"You do?"

"Yeah," the brunette felt a smile over his face, envisioning the tall double doors that must be set into the curving walls somewhere, with a crescent moon and a star set at the top, and the curving, spiraling staircase inside. "This is Master Yen Sid's home- the King's old teacher!" For a second, it was almost like Donald was standing next to him, squawking the news in delight before racing up the stairs, leaving Goofy to finish the briefing.

He heard Kayleigh stepping closer to him. "Yen Sid..?" The tone in her voice drew his eyes to her- the girl's eyes were lost in thought, staring up at the curving stones. "He... sounds kinda familiar..."

"Really?"

Confusion hit her. "I- I don't know..."

Sora sighed. "C'mon, maybe he's inside-" He started for the tower, pausing once to make sure she was following him, and started circling it, looking for the front doors.

* * *

Hollow Bastion was inching ever closer to the old city and world it had been decades ago. Newly constructed buildings had since popped up from Riku's last visit, older buildings held patches of the new from repairs and additions. People, past and recent citizens both, milled and walked around the city, tromping over the even gray stones and asphalt. In a crowd that was used to strangers appearing one day and then disappearing the next, Riku and Axel raised little notice among the others.

Except…

Riku stuck close to the Nobody's side, stepping at a slightly faster pace in order to keep up with the latter's longer stride. They had yet to say more than two words between the two of them since parting ways with everyone else. The silver-haired teen was more than happy to keep it that way, perfectly content with focusing solely on remembering the layout of Villian's Vale and all of the places Kairi was most likely locked away in. His eyes roamed over their surroundings.

It was a miraculous change, what had happened here, and he could think of comparing the new vision of the city as a mask to the wounded version beneath, and wondering at the job Leon, Merlin and the others had managed.

_They really did make the city better… _His eyes flicked over the new crowds, and he soon realized he did not need to walk so close to Axel. People swerved around their mini-group early, walking past whatever bubble circled them. Only a few actually looked at them; and all of those, Riku saw, ignored the silver-haired teen entirely (or would just give him a quick look) but stared at the redhead, then avert their eyes and leave.

_What on earth?_ A middle-aged business man, impeccably dressed for work, briefcase in hand- a young woman sweeping off the store's doorstep, whistling a light tune- early teenage boy, practicing tricks with a beat-up skateboard- even a little kid playing tag with his friends; all paused, all gave him long looks, all stood out to Riku's eyes.

_What..? Am I going crazy?_

Axel chuckled. Riku tore his eyes off the incoming crowd and up to the redhead's face. "You didn't think the only Nobodies who kept their human forms were in the Organization, did you?" A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

"Wait- are you telling me that all of those people- they're Nobodies?"

"Hm-mmm," Axel answered in a nonchalant tone. "We've been around for as long as the Heartless have been; that's about twenty, twenty-one years. There's a lot more of us than you've noticed."

_There's a lot more of us-_

The short sentences echoed in his head, resonating with the shock. Riku found himself searching through the crowd, counting each pair of eyes that singled them out for those few seconds; he soon lost track.

_All of these people-_ any city he could remember walking the streets of, on any and all worlds- _how many-_ passing local after local, silently assuming what they were- _I always thought_- when a stretch of the journey was riddled with nothing more promising than further hardships and despair- _Look at all the people we're helping._

_I didn't even think that they were Nobodies- enemies, maybe._

"How could I have missed..-?" Riku only realized he spoke when his ears picked up his own breathless whisper. Three more in the crowd- four, maybe. The redhead's answer, wanted or not, was in all seriousness; his voice held a distinctly bitter edge.

"Nobodies are born in the realm of light, completely isolated, cut off from home. We're not Heartless, we don't have the instinct to merge into the realm of darkness. But we're not humans any more, either. And we know that. Very well. Surrounded by those who believe we shouldn't exist, we're forced to learn very quickly to melt into the background, hide ourselves, or be singled out and abused." The smile returned, painfully bitter. "We're pretty good at acting."

"I'll say." The teen took another look. "Why do they keep looking over at us?"

"Oh, that."

_'Oh, that'?!_

"Remember how I told you about the Nobody hierarchy? That all comes into being in the first place because, if you ever throw the leader out, everyone else in the chain below has to reassemble themselves into strength order again, with the new master at the top. And there's kinda two ways to do that. You could physically fight every Nobody you meet until someone wipes the floor with you, or you can just, uh, read their darkness energy signature." The redhead saw the confused look on Riku's face and tried, "Sense each other's strength. It's a little difficult to explain to someone who isn't a Nobody-"

"No. That's fine," Riku cut in, "I think I get it. Are any of them going to challenge you or whatever?"

"Not unless they have a death wish." He heard the Nobody chuckle slightly. Axel sobered up quickly. "They shouldn't bother us."

Riku nodded slowly. "Good. C'mon-" He picked up his pace, trying to ignore the countless number of eyes that followed them. _I thought the Nobodies already had their leader…_

The stairs inside the tower stretched upwards for an eternity, taking an occasional break with flat plateaus, separated between the staircases by thick wooden doors. Color panes of glass were set into the doors, shaped to resemble crescent moons or five pointed stars, depending on the following space's theme. They had just passed a second plateau, an open floor with the same dark blue paint, and large, ornamental golden stars centered in the middle of the curving walls, in between the sets of doors. Here the staircase meandered around in a slow spiral, conforming at last to the tower's outward design.

Sora had pulled ahead a few steps. He kept his eyes mostly on their path, snatching a few quick glances to their surroundings or down back towards her. Sometimes an extra fit of energy had him jagging up the stairs; at others, he plodded along, head bowed and lost in thought.

At those times, Kayleigh wanted to speak up and say something, anything. She was sorry about what happened to Kairi, really. Reassure him that Axel and Riku will be able to get her back- just something. But every time the occasion arose, her courage failed. So instead, she walked steadily up the staircase behind him, silent.

Around them, the tower walls seemed to breathe with a life of their own. A dark blue color of twilight, some form of charm or illusion added sparkling dots of stars, swirling galaxies and moons in all of its phases. It gave the heady effect of walking into the heavens. And although they would not be climbing that high, it was still a nice view to look at; Kayleigh stepped past a miniature version of the big dipper constellation, one hand trailing over the smooth wood of the railing banister.

Up ahead, Sora cried out in cheer: the final door at last. He was waiting for her right in front of it; a sparkle of impatience shown in his blue eyes. Kayliegh started to pick up her pace, and that's when the memory hit her.

* * *

_Taking the stairs as fast as her short, clumsy legs could, the little girl ran up to the giant, wooden door. The railing posts swept past her, the banister itself too far above her head for her to reach without stretching out on her toes. She liked the difference of atmosphere here. The stars were bright against the twilight walls like the sunlight could be outside in the garden. But here- oh here there was magic that Mama only talked about distantly. At home, Mama showed her the magic workings of the world in magnified views, and although it was fun to look at tiny lines squiggle under a bright light. Here lived forces that even Mama and Auntie couldn't explain. Here, coins appeared behind everyone's ears at any time of the day; Here magic really lived. She could feel it._

_The girl arrived at the very top. The exertion of the trip made her huff and gasp for air, but she did it with a wide, happy grin on her face. She hugged her doll close to her chest. Rose was an old-fashioned rag doll with a soft body, made out of sewn-together fabric and stuffed with some soft material. But her hair was red, silky string or thin yarn, her dress a bright, flower-petal soft cloth of pale green, designed like a sorceress's robes. The three bustling Faeries had given Rose to her, conjured out of thin air with just a few waves of their wands. The girl brought Rose with her everywhere. _

_Mama and Auntie were still far away down the stairs. They were taking their time, which meant they would take forever to reach the top-_

_Unable to wait any longer, the little girl twisted around, gaze sweeping over the oak door, one hand bundling up into a tiny fist. She hammered on the door, excitement bubbling up inside her. Some of it spilled out into her voice as she cried out:_

_Grandpa-! Grandpa-! Grandpa-!_

* * *

Shock coursed through Sora as he glanced back at Kayleigh. Crying out her name, he turned around on his heels and took the stairs two or three at a time. He was barely there on time.

"Kayleigh-!" Sora stuck his arms out just as the girl sagged towards the stairs. She felt as light as paper, her skin was frozen stone, the freckles on her face standing out like dark ink spots. Her eyes were glassy, gaze focused somewhere nonexistent. Sora shook the girl gently at first, repeating her name once or twice, gradually growing more and more alarmed when she stayed lost, limp and for all purposes dead to the world. Her head snapped back and forth without resistance, eyes glassy orbs on a doll's face. The thought to call Donald and Goofy finally entered Sora's mind, and he closed his eyes, trying to think of a way to get his friends' attention.

Nothing came to mind, so the brunette arched his head back up to the unending, starry ceiling, inhaled deeply, and expelled in a series of gut-busting shouts:

"Donald-! Goofy-!"

Over and over again, inhaling again when needed. His voice echoed back on him, bounding off the curved stone walls and the winding carpeted stairs. Each echoing repeat sounded more haunted and alone than the one before. "Donald-!" He was beginning to lose hope of being noticed.

A heavy clunk of a door latch slinking undone cut through the air, cutting Sora off in mid-shout. The brunette carefully glanced over his shoulder, a little wary. At the top of the staircase, the heavy wooden door had opened slightly- just a small sliver angling the decoration glass window, a stylized purple glass wizard's hat with silver and golden yellow moons and stars, oddly. Someone stood behind it, their aged and wrinkled hand resting on the metal doorknob, wizened but lively blue eyes peering down at Sora.

The light in the back of the eyes glinted in cheerful, and relieved?, recognition, and the person pulled the door open further. The man, an elder easily in his upper sixties at least, stood at the top of the stairs, lighted from behind by the tower's topmost room. His bright blue eyes sparkled slightly behind a set of wire rim glasses perched precariously on the bridge of his nose.

Merlin's face was positively radiant smiles, the same every time the brunette ever remembered seeing on the wizard's face. "Sora, now what are you doing here..?" The blue eyes naturally moved over him, coming to a sudden stop on Kayleigh. The smile disappeared and the wizard flung the door open further, simultaneously descending the stairs with quick steps. The door hit the wall with an echoing bang- Merlin didn't notice. "Here- let me help. Come on now, it's not much further up."

Sora let the wizard take one of Kayleigh's arms and wind an arm around her waist; he held her up from the other side, and together they made it up to the top of the stairs and into the circular room beyond. The brunette remembered the Tower room's layout from his last brief visit and did not bother to look around much at the circular room. On the opposite side, a long dark hallway led straight back. They headed straight to the end, where a weathered door stood tall like a guard.

Shooting stars streaked over the heads of ornately carved sorcerers and sorceresses, with their arms and staffs outstretched to the sky above as if they were the ones directing the stars' paths themselves. One panel in particular stuck out to Sora, and as Merlin struggled with the ancient metal doorknob, he ran his eyes over the image several times.

In the middle, a tall slim figure stood with her back to the viewer, her long hair tumbling down to her feet. A frozen wind fanned her cloak, robe, and hair out; it came roaring out through the open portal swirling in the depths of a wicked iron gate. To his eyes, it looked as though the force was trying to drag the woman inside into its hungry self and slam the gate shut forever. Bunches of roses, so many that it was a wonder how the artist ever managed to sculpt them with perfect detail, crowded the rest of the scene. Although the carving gave no indication of the flowers' color, Sora imagined the ones near the gate's gaping mouth was dead black and brittle, and those by the woman's feet thriving, the brightest shades of red possible.

And then Merlin nudged the door open; the panel swung out of view. The new room was also circular, ringed by laden bookshelves and full cases of potions held in vials. In the very center, a small circle of arcane symbols shimmering faintly in the gloom. Merlin left him and Kayleigh standing in the doorway, moving towards the circle. Once his feet crossed the line, the symbols flared up to life; the wizard smoothed his sleeves back, brandished a wand in one hand.

A soft moan escaped Kayleigh's mouth; the brunette felt her weakly moving- or trying to. Intense relief washed over Sora and he called out excitedly to the wizard, "Hey, I think she's coming around, Merlin-" The girl made another sound; her eyes were no longer glassy when she opened them. "You okay?" Sora asked in a low voice as he helped her stand on her own, hearing the wizard's shuffling footsteps come closer.

A shaking, pale freckeled hand pressed gently against her temple, rubbed at it. Kayleigh nodded slowly, a quick smile flickered over her face. "Y-yeah, I think so." But she averted her eyes, and the fake grin slipped away.

The door flew open again, making Sora's question snip short to an "Huh?" and drew his attention back behind them. A tall, stern figure blocked the doorway, wearing the same formal robes of a sorcerer. Intense, dark beady eyes glared down at them from beneath bushy gray eyebrows and over a hooked nose. The three Faeries- Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather- bopped and darted around the sorcerer Yen Sid, all smiles.

"Oh, how are you-"- "-it's been so long-"- "-my look at you-" He felt Kayleigh back up and shrink against his side. Barely out of the confusion, the brunette spied Merlin sidestep around the fluttering mess of Faeries and approach Yen Sid's side; the latter bent slightly, listening close to whatever Merlin whispered into his ear.

The red-clad Faerie, Fauna, fluttered in close to Kayleigh, a maternal smile over her gentle face. "Dear," the other Faeries hushed, "you look exactly like your mother-"

"Fauna-!" The sorcerer's booming voice cut over the last syllable of the Faerie's sentence, eyes flashing with some hidden warning. He turned towards the two brunettes. "I apologize. We hadn't been expecting visitors so soon."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, a lot of things have been rushed, I guess." He saw something flicker in the sorcerer's gaze, the corner of his mouth twitched, straightened out in a pale line. "So-why did the King send us here..?"

"I'm sure Merlin and the three good Faeries can explain that to you," Yen Sid backed off to the side, gesturing with long, bony fingers for the group to exit the room, back in the parlor. "If you don't mind, I'd like to speak with Kayleigh alone for a short moment." His hand fell on her shoulder, making the girl flinch. "We'll join you soon."

Sora was already being guided away by a far less enthused Merlin. He managed to grab one last look over his shoulder before the view was lost; his reassuring smile did nothing to help alleviate the worry in her eyes- and he could not blame her.


	9. Chapter 9

*Hola ya'll- so sorry it's been a long time (as usual for me). Thanks for reading, hope you're enjoying!*

Disclaimer: As usual, nothing of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy (etc.) belongs to me... sigh.

Chapter Nine: Nobody's Old Memories

* * *

Her prison door slammed shut from behind, the click of it locking was just audible amid her harsh breaths for air. Her arm throbbed in pain from where Pete had held onto her; Kairi winced as a wave of nauseous ran through her, swelling and swelling up from her stomach, waning and passing just as slowly.

Kairi walked into the middle of the room, swinging her blue eyes around it slowly. The space was cramped. Everything, the floor, the stacks of cardboard boxes (open or closed tight), dingy walls, were coated with dust. What furniture there was either was broken or buried under other forgotten objects. One window existed somewhere in the back; Kairi sighed in relief that it was still daylight. Around the cobwebs, some so big the girl shuddered at the images of the size of their owners, it did not look as though there was any form of light fixtures overhead.

And it was cold. Kairi wrapped her arms over her chest, hands futilely rubbing the bare skin. _Sora, Riku_- she spied a mostly intact chair with a manageable sized stack of binders she could move. The dust was wiped off, the pile set aside, and Kairi sat down, a small worried frown over her face.

_Sora, this has to be a trap- don't fall for it, guys, just because it's me. I can get out of here. _The girl swung her eyes around her again, this time going slowly and examining everything closer. She knew exactly how either of her friends would have attempted their escape; wait for Pete to return and then summon their keyblades and kick his bullying butt. _Now why did I leave my pendant back home? Real smart there, Kairi- leave behind exactly what you need to not be a hindrance._

The girl sighed. Climbing out the window would not work. The room was bound to be a few stories up in the air and there was nothing that could be tied up into a suitable rope. Break open the lock on the door? No- books and boxes were not going to do much. _I can set up a trap- surprise them long enough to make a run for it. _

It was good. Something else to focus on, and it couldn't be too hard to set up. Kairi bounded up out of her seat, making another quick study of her surroundings- this time making selections. A really tall pile of semi-heavy objects could be pushed into the back of someone's head pretty well. She started building her makeshift tower.

_Get around them, make a run for the city- find Merlin or Leon (Sora and Riku said they lived in Hollow Bastion, right?) and then get Sora's attention somehow-_

In the midst of her thoughts, Kairi didn't notice her arm bumping into a small cardboard shoebox. It tumbled to the ground with a small thud, making her start, cutting off her plans. _Oh shoot- I hope they_ _didn't hear that..._ The girl glanced down at the box with a small, guilty wince. It would be just her luck to mess up before she even got loose-

The lid had come off, the rest of the box itself was on its side, contents belched out in a long spray. Most had spread out face-down, but as Kairi swooped down over the spill, hands hurriedly scooping up the various rectangular papers, she started to slow down as the images finally hit her brain, recognition sparking somewhere inside. One of the photographs she held up close to her face. _Why... she looks just like Kayleigh! _

It was old, though- the picture was fuzzy in a way that no digital camera would ever create. The picture included two women, so similar in appearance they were probably sisters. They were standing, posing together, in front of an old, twisting tree, mellow orange hues of light falling softly onto them. One had a slightly more angular face, less populated by small freckles, and her amber hair was tightly plaited in a braid that fell to the middle of her back. The one that had caught Kairi's attention was just slightly taller than her sister; the light highlighted her features in a more flattering way, lighting up the red in her hair, giving her pale skin more color. They both wore floor-length dresses, light-green in color with wine red sashes around their waists, and happy, triumphant smiles on their faces. Kairi ran her eyes over the two closely, re-estimated her guess of their ages to upper teens.

_Weird... who are they..?_ She set the photo aside, picked up another one. This one was even older, but the two made their appearance. Probably no more than five, and neither paying any attention to the camera, the sisters tromped through a flowering garden, a fuzzy statue far in the background. _...And why does Maleficent have these..?_

Kairi glanced back at her tower and then to the window, considering. _All right... I'll just take a little break._ Once the light started to fade, then she'd set this mystery aside and get back to work. Experience from her last imprisonment in the Castle That Never Was taught her that captors rarely visited their prisoners often.

So thinking, she settled herself more comfortably on the floor, absentmindedly setting the shoebox up right and next to her. She started with the photographs already inside, making a pile that quickly began to grow by her side. Time ticked by.

The light had alreay faded past her original end marking point- _just a little longer, a few more_- far enough that Kairi had to hold the last remaining photographs up close to her face in order to see them. She paused the longest at the very last one, studying it closely. This one was more recent than all of the others; yet it still had a good amount of time piled on it. A very young girl, no older than four if even that much, grinned innocently and widely up at the camera. Her mousy-brown, wavy hair fell just to her small shoulders, freckles dotted her skin liberally. She held some doll with bright red hair close to her chest in a tight hug. Green-blue eyes looked fearlessly up at the camera, nearly glittering in their happiness.

Kairi considered, the cold chill that had only slowly come over her settling deeper. After a few seconds she put it aside and closed her eyes. _...Unbelievable..._

* * *

Watchful eyes kept a close track of the silver-haired boy's and the redhead's progress as they walked the streets of Hollow Bastion. Especially the redhead. It had only been a matter of weeks since he had last seen enemies wearing the dark coats of Organization Thirteen; not enough time to forget the havoc their little group had caused; not long enough, not plentiful enough.

The tall figure tailed them for a few blocks more, considering. Seeing Riku here, walking next to It, was disquieting, making him doubt. Why would...? Defeated in battle? Taken over, turned into a Nobody? It could be anything. So no, no he couldn't doubt. Couldn't hesitate. If Riku tried to stop him, then Riku was no longer on their side.

Darkness was not going to win the city ever again.

_

* * *

_

My mother… She said I looked like my mother…

The door slipped shut behind the departing party, including the Faerie who had looked her right in the eye with a smile and told her that she looked just like her mother. The sorcerer's hand felt like a weight, and his grip tightened over her shoulder, drawing her away.

"Sit down, Kayleigh," a chair whisked up out thin air by a wave of his hand. She obeyed, still thinking about the Faerie, Fauna; trying to remember if anyone had ever said that before. Wondering.

_My mother- do we have anything else in common..? How did they know her- do they, did they, know me once, too? Mother- Mom. _

_Why can't I remember anything about her?_

"Kayleigh-" Yen Sid summoned up another chair, directly in front of her. He sat down, blue robes flaring out with the imperious move. His voice boomed, dragging her out of her thoughts; his dark eyes caught her gaze and held it there, for better or worse.

For a long moment, there was silence. Kayleigh fidgeted in her seat, shifting her gaze back down to her hands. She didn't like being scrutinized, and certainly not by this man. It felt as though he was looking past her and down into her very soul. Passing judgment- and who knew what the verdict was.

At last, she looked back up, drawn again by his voice.

"Merlin told me that you remembered something just a few minutes ago. On the stairs."

_Grandpa-! Grandpa-!_

Kayleigh gulped, her mouth suddenly dry; parched, in fact. The memory- if that was what it was- was there, fresh. She nodded, gripping her hands over her knees to keep from shaking.

"Have there been any others?"

"N-No."

The sorcerer relaxed, settling back into his chair further. "Good -we can move onto other matters then-"

Kayleigh bit her tongue, drawing up some courage. "Is that- is that going t-to happen again..? The vision- or, uh, memory, you said?"

He hesitated. "It shouldn't. Now.., what has the King told you about your past?"

_My past? What?_

"N-nothing. My name is Kayleigh.., and I'm nineteen years old." She blinked. _Is that really all I know?_ She tried to dredge up anything else, but nothing more swam up out of her mind.

"Hmm.., I see." Master Yen Sid paused, frowning slightly and considering. "Besides that memory today, Kayleigh, has anything else abnormal happened around, or to, you?"

She frowned, confused. "You mean those, um, Dusks? The Nobodies following me?"

"No, no, no. Beyond that. Because of it, in fact." The confusion must have shown on her face, as he finally, and, reluctantly added, "Magic, Kayleigh. Spells, hexes, and the like- has anything happened whenever you were attacked by those Dusks?"

_Magic? Is he kidding?_ Kayleigh studied the sorcerer closely, waiting. She didn't have powers such as those, she was quite sure- even if she knew nothing beyond her own first name and age. "No. Nothing," she answered at last. Paused, and added, "I don't have any skills like that."

Something flickered behind the sorcerer's intense dark eyes, too indiscernible to even guess what it was. He picked an old, elegant, and wrinkled hand up and held it palms up in the air between them. "May I see your hand?" he said more than asked, eyes never leaving her's.

She hesitated for the briefest of seconds; but there wasn't any way to refuse. His eyes wouldn't let her, and she almost wondered whether he had hypnotized or bewitched her somehow. Kayleigh placed her hand on top of his; he turned it over gently, so that it was palms up as well. His skin was cool, leathery. But strong, somehow- powerful.

"Watch."

Kayleigh lowered her gaze back to their hands, his holding her's from underneath. She doubted whether she really needed to. Almost immediately after speaking, a tiny flash of light appeared under her hand. The middle of her palm began to warm and tingle. The feeling spread throughout her entire hand, but especially concentrated in the middle and the very tips of her fingers.

A few seconds later, if that much to her widening and unbelieving eyes, a spout of flames appeared over her hand. The tips licked the air, rising no higher than a few inches, flickering in oranges and reds.

"Wha-" Kayleigh breathed in shock.

Master Yen Sid said nothing. He released her hand and slowly drew it back to his chair's armrests, dark eyes reflective, thoughtful.

The flames lasted for a few short moments longer before petering out and disappearing to mere wisps of smoke in the air. Neither of them moved.

In the quiet, Kayleigh felt the speed of her heart hammering quickly in her chest, her breath whistling in and out of her mouth. Without the fire, or perhaps because of it, her hand felt even cooler than before. She looked back up at him, trying to catch her breath and nerves to speak. "But how did you-"

"I didn't, Kayleigh," The sorcerer interrupted. "I only provided a tiny spark- the rest was all you."

"I-I don't think I understand…"

"Magic runs in your veins."

Kayleigh was speechless. Everything was moving so fast, her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and images, all ending on the sight of the fire burning in her hand. She stared down at it, slowly opening and closing it, making certain that it really was her own flesh and blood. The sorcerer continued on.

"You're here so you can embrace and learn to use your power to its full potential. It'll help you on your journey, Kayleigh- don't you think?"

She looked back up at him. "What is my journey?"

"You will find that out soon enough. Now," Master Yen Sid stood up, one gesture of his hand sending the summoned chair into puffs of smoke, "Sora and the others are waiting for us. Let's not keep them there forever." He beckoned for her to follow him; a fresh breeze- smoke, actually- brushed against the back of her legs; she wasn't surprised to find that her chair had also vanished.

His hand fell on her shoulder again, this time not so much a weight but commanding all the same. He led the way back out. Her thoughts slipped away, back to the magicked fire and the Faeries. The discoveries were no longer so comforting.

* * *

Magicked tea and pastries, both sweetly fragrancing the air, graced the round table. Sora absentmindedly twirled a brightly decorated dessert around on his saucer, otherwise ignoring the tea. Merlin sat across the table from him, sipping at the liquid in intervals, uncharacteristically quiet. The Faeries had excused themselves early for the back room. Every so often Sora's eyes flicked towards the still door, waiting; Merlin pointedly ignored it.

Several minutes ticked by on a large, old-fashioned grandfather clock. Finally, the brunette couldn't stand it any longer. "Merlin," Sora waited until the wizard's blue eyes met his before continuing, "why did the King send us here?"

The wizard was quiet for a while longer. At long last, he sighed, setting his tea cup down. "I really can't tell you, Sora. I'm sorry. You- you weren't supposed to be the one to come, you see."

"What-what do you mean?"

Something flickered behind Merlin's blue eyes, nothing like his usual cheerfulness. "Do you know what happened to the King, Sora?"

"We think he was captured. All we really know is that we lost contact with him two days ago."

"Oh dear," the wizard had bowed his head after the first sentence, slowly shaking his head from side to side, "oh King Mickey… what about the other lad- the Nobody?"

Sora scowled slightly. "Axel?"

"Ah, yes. Did something happen to him too?"

"No. Not that I know of. Why?"

The wizard's eyes narrowed slightly, in puzzlement. "Then why are you here?"

Sora gulped, trying to ignore the sudden clamp in his throat to answer, "Maleficent kidnapped Kairi. Riku and Axel went to Hollow Bastion to bring her back."

His eyes widened. "Oh- oh dear… Ahem, I'm sure they'll be just fine…"

The door opened at that exact moment; Sora's gaze flew towards it. Master Yen Sid strode in glinding steps further into the room, Kayleigh following less gracefully. She flexed one hand experimentally in front of her face, flipping it back and forth. It flew back down to her side when she noticed him watching.

"Rest for a few minutes, then we'll get started."

"Get started with what?" Sora asked, glancing this time between Master Yen Sid and Merlin. The latter looked almost guilty, but the sorcerer met his gaze unflinchingly. "Kayleigh..?" The girl looked back at him, silent.

"Ah, Sora-" The brunette looked back to Merlin with the nervous cough, "have you been keeping up with your magic this time around? Since you'll be here for a little while longer, you should get some practice in, I think. I can show you those spells again if you forgot."

_Wait… why?_ Sora stared at the wizard for a long minute, blinking once in confusion. He glanced between the two magic-users, and say that even if he asked again, they would not answer him this time or any time after. Defeated, Sora sighed, tried to smile. "Yeah, okay. A little practice hurt…"

A smile appeared on the old wizard's face, widened. Everyone visibly relaxed, in fact. Sora forced himself to sit back down, even nibble some more on a pastry, letting them think he had given up for now. He could be patient if he needed to.

_But I will know what's going on this time. I promise that, and I never break promises._

* * *

* All right- so hopefully I'll update on other stories soon.......... once I'm not swamped by homework/swamped by procrastinating. 9_9. Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Hello's... sorry for the long wait- hope you still enjoy... so yeah's... enjoy and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: none of the kingdom hearts and final fantasy characters are mine.

Chapter Ten: Nobody's Enemies

* * *

The crowds of people populating the streets began to drop in number the further out of the city they traveled. By the time the city was receding behind them, they were completely alone much to Riku's relief. The constant stare-glances had started getting on his nerves a while ago. Even with a Nobody, an old enemy too, following close to him was far more preferable than all those eyes.

Vale Valley's unmistakable blue crystal walls rose high on either side of their little party. The sunlight shining down from above bounced back and forth over the many angled, smooth surfaces of rock, tracing down paler blue lines. With the faint glitter, they almost looked like frozen lightning bolts. The rubble path, uneven but fortunately not made of the same material as the rest of the valley, twisted and zig-zagged back and forth at sharp angles, leaving only a few feet ahead and behind them visible.

Riku pushed their pace faster, tracing their route in his head along with their feet. In another twists they would come out of the narrow valley path to an open, level ground. From there, they would be able to see the rest of the gorge in its entirety, and the castle that Maleficent had labeled Villain's Vale- maybe as a thin, wry joke- once upon a time. There they could stop and Riku could relay the rest of the plan to the redhead.

The ground lurched violently under his feet; Riku came to a halt, eyes turning towards the shaking earth. Jagged lines branched out from a central, larger crack in the earth, racing forwards and back between his feet. He winced at the bright light shining up through the dirt. A thought raced through his head as he leapt off to one side, shoes sliding in the dirt, shoulder bumping into the wall: _Magic- Maleficent must have seen us coming somehow-_

The lines raced after him, now accompanied with audible crunches and earthly crumbles along with the light. The second violent shudder made his knees buckle, made him struggle and flail to remain standing. Out of the corner of his eye, Riku saw the Nobody vanish with a small trace of darkness lingering in his space afterwards. _Oh thanks-_ The earth heaved again, and suddenly fell apart from under the silver-haired teen's feet. He began falling immediately. _Shit-!_

Sensing, perhaps, its master's predicament, the keyblade appeared; Riku wrapped his fingers tightly around the red handle with both hands, and twisted his upper body around, slamming the keyblade's dark blade into the blue rock wall. The vibration from the impact traveled up his arms, made him grit his teeth. Riku risked a glance down. His stomach made a nauseous flip.

The ground had plummeted away- pieces still drifted and fell down off the sides to a distance that must have been twenty or so feet futher down, the full valley path across. Such a fall wouldn't have killed him, but it would have surely broken a leg at least.

The high-pitched chiming of metal clashing together drifted down towards him, softly. Riku turned his gaze upwards, along the blue rock side, with its top impossibly far overhead. Lightning flashes of sparks flew out into the air with every crash. Maleficent- or, more likely, Pete- and Axel already battling it out, Riku guessed, bracing his legs against the wall to help lessen the aching strain in his arm muscles. _Now how to get up there…_

Another low rumble bubbled up from below. The tremors flowed through the wall, into the keyblade's dark form, and ultimately shaking through his body all together. It kept growing, until Riku felt his muscles give out on him; his fingers lost their grip- his feet scrapped uselessly at the shaking wall.

"Whoa-ah!" His body fell backwards in a slow arch. The black bat-wing like keyblade shook free of its spot and fell down after him. It disappeared in a flash of violet light and reappeared closer to his right hand. Riku grabbed the handle once again. Tucking his limbs close to his body, he twisted himself around so that he was right-side up again, arms outstretched to slow his descent (barely) knees slightly bent. The air rushing past his face blew the long bangs out of his eyes; he saw where he would be landing long before impact.

The force of the landing raced like lightning up his legs, striking intense pins into his ankles and knees in particular. The valley's loose dirt over the smooth shiny black surface skirted out from his feet like marbles, spilling Riku's already immobilized body back onto his rear. The boy felt the curved from flex underneath him, and then he was in the air again- this time flying backwards blindly. Fire raced up an arm.

"Gah-!" His back slammed into something solid and unmoving, forcing out all of the air in his lungs and forming dark spots before his eyes. Luck alone kept the keyblade in one hand. He glanced at his hurt arm, noting the slash over his skin- not deep, as far as he could tell, but it was definitely bleeding, definitely cut.

A predatory growl, not unlike the shifting ground earlier, permeated the air. Riku forced his head up, bracing his free hand against the rock had struck to keep himself standing. Baleful yellow eyes glared at him from a reptilian face. A single set of thin, gray, whiskers swept off the sides of its long snout, moving slightly with every breath. Sharp curved fangs poked out from the sides of its mouth, almost yellow in color. The beast's triangular head rested at the top of a slender neck, which curved back seamlessly into the rest of its serpentine body; two stubby sets of legs held it up off the uneven ground. Large black scales layered its head and back like plates of armor; the belly and front part of its neck had white, rectangular scales. The tip of its tail curled up like a scorpion's, but flate and blade-like.

The dragon's nostrils- two nearly invisible slits- flared, eyes flashing. Its speed matched its size; Riku had to jump aside to evade the creature's striking bite. He ran up alongside its neck, cut arm throbbing and dripping blood behind him, slashing at its body as he went.

Sparks flew. The dragon's roar, pure unadulterated rage, filled the new canyon. Riku smirked, dodging to the side behind a boulder as the sharp edges of the tail darted at him.

A disgruntled growl- and then a rush of warm air gusted past the sides of his face; it stung where it touched him. Riku winced, trying to huddle in close to himself; his eyes feel don onto the blade in his one hand and widened. The dark metal had gone soft, and looked more like wax than metal. Droplets were beginning to slide off the edge onto the ground, leaving pock-marks in the blade. _Acid? Great-_

The boy closed his eyes, trying to summon up the inner energy Maleficent had told him of years ago. He was a few months out of practice, but everything was coming back, fortunately very quickly too.

He let a few more seconds pass before he ducked out into the open. In his unarmed hand he held the summoned energy; as the dragon pivoted its aim to follow his movements, Riku threw the wind spell into the yellowish fog. The magic cut rhough the fog, even going so far to slamming into the beast's face. _Yes!_

The swelling triumph disappeared. It hadn't taken the dragon long to recover; Riku's body nearly froze as he spied both fangs and tail striking directly at him. He leapt high and forwards, felt the air slice past his legs and side with the beast's body, felt the jarring shock of the ground as he landed again and started running forward with his momentum.

The dragon's unprotected middle curved in directly ahead. Riku gathered up his strength, drawing the keyblade back. A savage cry broke out through his mouth. The beast was up close to him now, the black scales reflected him on surfaces as big as dinner plates. He brought the blade down; dark violet light erupted out on either side with the impact, and the keyblade sunk in through the scales, cracking them apart.

The dragon roared: in anger, in pain.

The length of its body suddenly whipped past, taking the keyblade out of his hands for once and for all. He saw it disappear in a flash of violet light as his feet stumbled backwards unsteadily. A wide part of its body flashed towards him; unable to duck, the scales smacked into his whole body, smothering him. The sharp edges grated at his skin and clothes- anything that came out of his mouth went unheard; all Riku could hear was the roar's of the dragon and the whoosh of air as he was flung backwards.

This time the body landed roughly on the rubble, somersaulting backwards by his own momentum, helpless to stop. Riku came to a stop face down, body screaming in pain, unable to get his breath back. He rolled his eyes up to find the dragon, struggling to get back up. A cough rumbled his whole body; blood sprayed the ground in tiny red dots.

The roaring came to an end, trailing into a growl. Riku found the dragon, and it stared back at him, knowing and gloating. Its long body was curled and coiled protectively around its hurt middle- nothing but a tiny scratch it seemed now- bladed tail poised high in the air. It opened its mouth slowly, allowing him to see very little part of its many teeth and horrible dark purple forked tongue. The yellow glinted, silently laughing.

The dragon drew its neck and head back, and lashed forward for the finishing snap of its teeth.

_

* * *

_

We've got company

-

His senses brushed against the newcomer's presence a split second before the ground rumbled for the first time under their feet. Instincts took over- the valley, and Riku, warbled out of view for an instant, replaced instead by darkness. It lasted for just a second; when the teleportation was completed, Axel found himself a top the very valley wall they had been walking through, just a few feet away from the edge, glaring off a vaguely familiar, blue-eyed brunette.

_Definitely not Maleficent._

Axel frowned. "Why are you attacking us? …Leon, isn't it..?" Wasn't that the name Sora hd cried out when they brunette started helping to fight a few Dusks?

Hearing his name seemed to break his paralysis. The blue eyes narrowed; Leon took two quick strides, and lunged forward with a wide sweep.

He caught the flash of silver and leapt backwards. The gunblade completed its arc, its owner was already charging again. This time Leon pulled up short, Lionheart held up over his head for a downwards slash.

As the blade came whistling down, Axel braced himself, raised his arms up over his head. He dug down, the act of summoning so well practiced that focusing wasn't necessary. In a twin burst of flames, the chakrams appeared in his hands- he tightened his grip, not even wincing at the sword's impact, directly in between two of the long spikes.

"Remember," Axel grunted, holding up Lionheart by one chakram and letting the other drop down, "you asked for it-" He darted forward, low to the ground; the sword blade whisked past his head, making horrible screeching as the chakram holding it up slid along down towards the hilt. His shoulder knocked into the brunette's midsection; overhead, Leon grunted. Axel swung the free chakram around to his opponent's unprotected side.

Sudden pressure built up on his bent knee. It disappeared quickly, taking the weight of the gunblade with it. The chakram sliced through empty air, just cutting into the brunette's denim jacket. Its owner stumbled to a landing a few feet away, unmistakeable blue eyes flashing hatred.

Axel smirked in reply, straightening up. The foot print on his knee went ignored.

The fight was on.

They both moved at the same time; Axel leapt off to the side around the brunette's next charge, crossing his arms across his body, and then let the chakrams loose at Leon's unprotected side. Flash of silver- Axel's feet slid to a stop, as he bent the chakram's to spin back into his hands instead of flying off randomly. The gunblade sliced through the air again; an arc of light sped towards him- Axel waited and at the last second brought it down onto the spell; the light stopped, bending at the touch of the metal, momentarily blinding him, disappeared. Easy.

_Ha- that wasn't much of a spell-_

The triumph was short lived. Axel's eyes widened in surprise. Leon hadn't wasted the opportunity, but used the few seconds to get in striking distance.

He warped, bracing himself against the abrupt dizziness the shifts between worlds brought with it, and reappeared out of the way.

The fight went on, exchanging blows, sidestepping decapitating swipes, and so on, back and forth. Sparks flew off the blades where they struck, neither striking a clear hit upon the other.

Leon was tiring- not in his efforts, but Axel saw the brunette staggering a few times, and how he had to start gasping for air.

_Finally-_ the redhead delivered a blow which Leon caught with the gunblades, but not without being knocked back a few feet. Axel threw both chakrams after the brunette, before the latter could regain his balance. The spiked disks spun through the air faster than Leon could raise the gunblade in defense; one slashed deep into his sword's arm shoulder, the other cut his leg, just above the knee. Blood splattered the ground, darkened the clothing the brunette wore.

"Ugh-" Pain registered over the brunette's face, briefly winning over the defiance in his eyes. He fell to the ground, too exhausted, too hurt, to stay up on his feet. Still, he glared at the redhead, one hand kept a tight hold of Lionheart's hilt.

Axel could respect him for that. But the fight was over.

Both chakrams returned voluntarily to his hands- he held them in a loose, relaxed grip, considering what to do with his opponent, when an intense burst of light erupted up and out from the valley's walls. It left a sharp afterimage so that the two of them had to blink a lot to be rid of it.

_Oh crap- Riku_!

Axel glanced back at Leon, absent-mindedly gesturing with one hand, "Stay there." Thin bands of flames sprouted up from the ground near the brunette's ankles and knees, and circled over his limbs, holding them tight. Leon struggled, but the spell held and he soon gave up. Axel nodded to himself and turned away. _Here we go again- _the redhead took a steadying breath, and teleported.

* * *

The mouth opened wider, saliva-glistening teeth growing larger and larger. Just seconds away from snapping him apart.

All Riku saw was a blur. The dark, indistinguishable shape flew up to the dragon's face; he saw the beast snap its mouth shut, twisting away as something screeched up the side of its face. As it arched up and back into the air, the dragon roared.

Someone stepped in front of his vision. Riku arched his neck up as the newcomer reached a pale, slim arm into the air and caught a familiar oversized shuriken. Yuffie's gaze never wavered off of the beast as she addressed him, "You okay back there?"

The teen grunted. "Yeah- I'm fine."

"Oh good- I'll be right back!" The petit ninja disappeared in a puff of a smoke that blinded Riku for a few seconds. When it dissipated, he found Yuffie floating up in the air in a dying cloud of more smoke, the shuriken held behind her back; it glowed in a bright green color. The dragon's attention was solely on her.

By some unknown signal, Yuffie spun her whole upper body around, releasing the shuriken with a wordless yell. This time the blur had a greenish tint to it, and the closer it got to its target, the larger it got. By the time it reached the dragon, it was nearly half the monster's full size.

Riku would have liked to think the dragon's eyes were reflecting fear, but he had to level with the last roar.

The scales popped, like popcorn, billowing noxious, roiling black fog. The dragon dissolved slowly into the darkness, battling only briefly with the enlightened shuriken's magic. Riku stared at the black fog, managing at last to push himself onto his hands and knees. _That smoke… was that dragon a Heartless? Or a Nobody?_ He was willing to bet the latter. _That was a really strong Nobody- no way Maleficent could have summoned it_.

Yuffie landed lightly in front of him, the shuriken in one hand, no longer glowing or any larger. Her dark eyes sparkled at him. She let the shuriken go; it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You don't look too good," Yuffie said, crouching next to him. Riku didn't protest as she slung an arm around his waist and directed his arm over her shoulder. She lifted him up, almost effortlessly.

"Thanks."

"Of course. So what brought you down to Villain's Vale in the first place?"

Their eyes were dragged upwards by the same clanging Riku heard earlier. More of the sparks and the lights of fire sprang drifted through the air. Riku narrowed his eyes, the line of his mouth thinning. "We better get up there."

Yuffie's grip tightened around him as acknowledgement. The world became encased by sudden growing clouds of white.

When the white smoke was whisked away by a fresh breath of air, the first thing Riku saw was the lean, blue-eyed brunette, kneeling on the ground with a facial expression denoting pain and anger.

"Oh geez-" Yuffie breathed, eyes taking in the damage and evidence of the fight.

As she started leading them over towards Leon Riku tried to put more of his weight onto his own feet, to walk by himself. On the roiling anger he felt clutching at his midsection could get him to float. _Axel..!_ Judging from the scorch marks on the ground, Leon's injuries must have been sustained by that backstabbing Nobody.

"Don't move, Leon, I've got some potions on me until we can get you to Aerith or Merlin." Yuffie let the teen go with a nod from Riku, and knelt by leon's side. "here, let me get these binds-" Riku ran his eyes over the young man as the ninja sliced the fire apart with the edge of her shuriken, and counted up each and every wound on his person. The number would equal the total amount of times he would have to kill Axel.

"A-ha! There you are!"

Unbidden, the keyblade was suddenly in his hand, the other clenched up into a tight fist. On not so steady feet, Riku whirled around on the Nobody. "Axel!" he snarled. "How dare you show your face after attacking a friend!"

The Nobody's green eyes flashed. "A friend? I saw your 'friend' sneaking behind us up here, and I figured he was the one behind that earthquake."

"Are you mad? Why would Leon attack us?"

The redhead lowered his voice slightly, tone and gaze completely serioius. "Don't you mean why wouldn't he attack _you_, Riku?"

If Leon hadn't spoken, Riku was pretty sure he would have unleashed all hell upon Axel's head. And then some.

"Wait a minutes… Riku- are you actually traveling with _him_?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "No, he's just particularly bad at realizing that someone's following him."

"Shut up," Riku snapped. In more gentler tones he answered Leon, "It's something of a long story, but Maleficent kidnapped Kairi and we're here to bring her ack before midnight."

"Why midnight?" Yuffie asked.

"Maleficent will turn into a Heartless then."

"But why _him_?" Leon insisted, glare resting on Axel.

Riku sighed. "that's the long story part. Technically, though, he's on our side.' He cast the redhead a glare, anger only growing as the latter merely shrugged in response. "I don't suppose you guys have seen Maleficent slinking around the castle in Villain's Vale recently?"

Yuffie and Leon exchanged looks and twisted back towards Riku. The ninja answered for them both, "That would be impossible," she started, "since that castle isn't standing right now."

"What do you mean?"

She hesitated. "Well, we figured it'd be better to destroy that Heartless factory and all evidence of it after the crisis had been averted…"

A cold hand clenched harder and further over Riku's heart. _No… no way-_ If the castle was gone, then where was Maleficent..? "No." Riku shook his head, trying to shake off his thoughts, the sudden visions of finding only a Shadow Heartless as Maleficent teleported away… "It- it can't-"

"You can see where it used to be just beyond that crevice," Leon gestured towards yet another level of the vale, about a hundred yards away. The rising rock formation allowed a small path through the middle to some space beyond. "Wait- Riku!"

Barely recognizing the call now far behind him, the teen continued running straight for the rocks. Footsteps followed him; he could care less. What mattered, all that mattered, was getting through to the next part. There was no way the castle could be gone- no way…

When Riku broke through to the other side, his momentum carried him forward several more steps. His lungs hurt, his injuries even more so- but for the moment they went ignored. His feet tripped over a small rock and he fell onto his hands and knees. Further ahead, beyond the lip of the valley floor, empty space gathered where the old castle once stood. Only broken earth marked its past presence, and even that looked in place with the valley's maze of canyons.

_No-_

Riku lowered his eyes, trying to withhold a scream of pure frustration. Just how much more must go wrong before something went right? How much longer?

Somewhere behind him, his follower came to a stop. "Oh… oh shit-" Axel breathed, mercifully falling silent afterwards.

_Focus- where else could Maleficent have gone?_

Despite all of his efforts, the answer eluded him. Maleficent had used Hollow Bastion as her base, taunting Leon and the other's efforts with her mere presence. She could hop worlds with ease, but had never lingered when she could avoid it.

_Dammit… I don't know where we can look next._

Axel's voice broke through his thoughts several seconds later. "Hey, Riku- come on. We should get back to the others…"

Riku nodded, already moving to stand back up on his feet. As much as he despised Axel, as much as he planned to punch him in the face at some later date, the Nobody was right. Brainstorming among several minds would yield better results that wasting time with vain struggles here.

Another presence invaded his sense. Riku's gaze swung directly ahead, towards the valley floor's edge, only now a familiar pillar of darkness was there. His day took another dip into the "Worst" category as the man stepped out, orange eyes focusing on both of them instantly.

_

* * *

_

You have got to be kidding me.

The smoke from the portal drifted up into the air and was gone. In its midst, the man stood still and tall, orange eyes flicking between the two of the them lazily, finally settling on Axel.

"Axel..," the deep voice rumbled in his chest, "why are you so far away from your charge?" Both the redhead and Riku tensed up as the man took a solitary step closer. "Master was right- I didn't think you'd be so foolish." A predatory smile crossed his face as Xemnas added, "I overestimated you, Axel."

The summoned chakrams settled in his hands as a comfortable weight. Several questions buzzed through his mind- and judging from Riku's face, the same thing applied- so Axel picked a happy medium for them all: "What are you doing here, Xemnas?" It felt odd to address the stranger as such- but even when dressed in a long, sleeveless v-neck tunic belted around his waist over dark pants and boots, and pale gold streaks through his hair, there was no denying the aura of power belonging to any other than the former leader of Nobodies himself.

"Kayleigh-" Riku said quietly and devoid of any emotion. He was back on his feet, at least partially out of La La Land.

Xemnas inclined his head slightly. "Precisely."

_By going through me?_ Axel withheld a wince; of course they'd use him as a focus point. He was the girl's bodyguard for how long now? - and it'd be easier to track him instead of her. And not until that point had they been separated by more than twenty feet or so. "What does your group want with her anyway?"

"She is essential."

"For what?"

"Everything."

Riku's quiet voice spoke up once more. "Which is…?"

Xemnas just smiled.

"Doesn't matter," Axel tightened his grip on the chakrams, "what matters is that you're not going to get anywhere near her. Got that memorized..?"

Xemnas's eyes narrowed at him. The ground rumbled, eerily familiar to the earlier sounds, and split open behind him in a burst of rocks. A huge, triangular head rose out of the hole, yellow eyes swiverling to fix on both Riku and Axel. The rest of the dragon wormed its way up above ground until its whole body was curled in a protective crescent moon around Xemnas- bladed tail at one end, teeth and and claws on the other. A swatch of its body was bald of the jet-black scales; long, white jagged lines erupted through the neighboring scales at that area.

Its head rested on the ground beside Xemnas, perfectly content with the affectionate pat the Nobody gave it. "Axel.., don't even consider trying to fight me. You might have become stronger since before, but you are still out of our league."

The realm of Darkness suddenly opened in the redhead's mind, with no conscious provocation on Axel's part. _Bad timing guys-_ It wasn't impossible to keep in touch with both worlds at once- all it took was a little focus- so he was able to keep a track of where Xemnas and Riku was, but soon that didn't matter anymore and Axel knew the real threat behind those words.

According to Saix's explanation (so long ago now), the way individuals sensed another's strength truly differed. Some, many actually, felt it in a vague way, but others knew it through a specific sense. Very few felt it physically, but some heard it (Demyx- always the jumpy one for a reason), or could smell it (Zexion, of course)- most saw it, one way or another. Axel happened to fall into the last percentile, and it was very clear to him that, if his own power equaled, say, a candle, then Xemnas would be that of a roaring fire. At least. The boiling mass of darkness that was the older Nobody's inner strength, all that he was capable of doing if he so choose to do so, just plain overwhelmed Axel the second Xemnas opened the channel between them. Even if he had allowed his full strength to show, he knew it wouldn't do any good- Xemnas could, and would, bat it (and him) aside much like a cat does to a mouse for entertainment.

The thin smile reappeared over Xemnas's face. The din lessened if not completely left Axel's mind- enough that he heard and could make sense of the Nobody's words. "Do you understand now, Axel? You've finally meddled into a game you have no place participating in. Hmmm..- think you can get that memorized..?"

Axel closed his eyes, trying desperately to sort his thoughts into some form of order. His mouth was dry, and even under the covering black uniform, he felt cold. Frozen. _A game, he said? Good lord- some game._ Something jostled his shoulder once- twice. _We don't have a chance of winning this- not now, not for a long while…_

"_Axel_-" Another sharp nudge, slightly more painful. The redhead shook his head clear and glanced to his right to find Riku glaring at him. The teen held the com in one hand, tilted up to show the insisting blink of red light- an incoming message. "We have to go back. Now."

"Yeah. All right-" Axel nodded, already mentally reaching out for an opening into the realm of Darkness. For a few bare seconds, it was there, and then it was gone. No matter how much he tried to make contact, nothing appeared; no portal, not even a sense of the realm being nearby.

His eyes flicked back towards Xemnas. The latter gazed calmly back, obviously amused. The dragon Nobody released a plume of gray smoke- was it laughing?

"Do you fully comprehend now, Axel?" Xemnas asked, the smile stretching over very white teeth.

"What are you waiting for?" Riku hissed in a harsh, low voice.

"I only repeat myself because it seems to me that you don't…" The dragon uncurled itself slightly, scales rippling in a wave, as Xemnas stepped forward. He waved one hand in a absent-minded dismissal, and the dragon dissolved into smoke; it hissed sadly as it returned to the darkness.

"_Axel_," Riku repeated, louder. The red light kept flashing its own insistence.

The redhead shook his head, eyes not leaving Xemnas. "I can't." The words came out thinly- in surprise or fear?

"What?"

Xemnas began laughing. "Go on- I think you're finally on the right trail, Axel."

He turned his eyes away from the older Nobody, glancing sideways to Riku. "I can't. …A lesser Nobody must obey a Superior's orders and wishes…"

Riku swore. Axel flicked his eyes off the teen- he didn't need to see the anger in the kid's eyes now.

The communicator gone back in his pocket, a cloud of darkness surrounded Riku's hand, quickly solidifying itself into the dark keyblade. "You can still fight a 'superior', right?"

"Maybe." Axel took a moment to reach for his own power- the fire answered the beckon almost immediately; no doubt thanks to Xemnas's mercy. "Yeah, for now."

"That'll have to do."

Xemnas's laughter tapered off. He raised one hand and beckoned to them both. "Come, then. I was hoping to have some fun on this mission."

That was invitation enough for Riku; the teen charged forward, somehow. Axel followed- a little slower, less assured- and angling to attack Xemnas's right side. His mind was screaming at him panicked and circling thoughts. _What the hell do you think you're doing? Stop-! Stop-! Don't do it-_ Shoving them aside took far more will power than usual.

Riku reached Xemnas first. He moved as if to aim a high lunge, but feinted at the last second to swipe at the Nobody's middle instead. Axel threw a chakram- it would reach a second after Riku's attack, but Xemnas would still be in the same place, so it would do. Theoretically, one or both should land.

Except:

Xemnas took a small step away from Riku- just far enough that the very edge of the weapon swiped the air less than a quarter inch away- and used the boy's momentum against him with a sharp kick to his knee. Riku went tumbling to the ground, way past Xemnas, keyblade skittering uselessly out of reach. As for the chakram, it just swept through empty air.

Axel blinked- someone was _there_ a second ago- and then something clamped down on his throat. His body kept moving forward, his feet skidding along the ground, and then off it; if it hadn't been for Xemnas holding him by the neck (and cutting off his air in the process), he probably would have started sliding and making roll tricks like Riku. As it was, Xemnas threw him back the way he had come, much like one would toss their shoes into a closet, muttering, "Pathetic."

Rock ground bit into his body every time he made contact with it on the rolling, sliding trip backward. Both chakrams were gone, far beyond his reach now, teleporting was out, and magic, something told him, was probably not going to be very helpful right then. His rolling came to an abrupt end with a smack against the valley wall. _Ow…_

Dirt crunched under a very deliberate step directly in front of his face. The redhead raised his head slowly, glancing all the way up to Xemnas's disappointed face. Far, far back around the older Nobody, Riku was struggling to stand back up- the wounded knee seemed unable to hold his weight. Every attempt he made ended up falling back to the ground. There was nothing the teen could do anymore. Nothing Axel could do, either.

_Crap-_

"That was awfully short." Dark energy swirled in tight sphere over Xemnas's hand idly. "My apologies- I overestimated you again."

"Son of a-" Axel got an arm underneath him and tried pushing himself at least partially up. Xemnas kicked his arm back out, lowering the hand with the energy floating around towards his head.

"Farewell, Axel."

The redhead bit his tongue, waiting for the short bite of pain and then the nothingness.. but it didn't come.

Xemnas chuckled, letting his hand drop to his side, the energy drifting away as smoke. A dark portal had opened around him, and with a final smirk, closed and vanished, taking Xemnas with it.

Axel sighed. Why had Xemnas just left- with victory literally one second away? Even if that ninja and Leon had decided to join them, they wouldn't have been able to do anything helpful. If he really wanted Kayleigh, why leave him alive?

"Hey-" Riku hobbled into his line of vision, trying to move carefully over the uneven ground lest he tripped. "We have to get back to Donald and Goofy."

"You don't have anything to tell your friends?" Axel asked, pushing himself back up to his own feet.

The teen scowled and shook his head. "No- there's no time anyway."

"True enough."

"Let's go then."

Axel bit back the retort that jumped into his mouth- now wasn't the time to tease Riku. This time, when he reached for the darkness, it responded easily (although that didn't stop his heart from skipping beat- just what if, what if Xemnas cut them off for good? He'd be able to reach Kayleigh without much a fight-). He followed Riku into the portal, opening up to the other side for them.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the late update- as usual... Anyways, hope you're enjoying, thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I still own nothin' 'cept the OC's.

**

* * *

**"Hold your arm steady," the sorcerer corrected for, perhaps, the thousandth time. "Magic _flows_- all you have to do to cast a spell is give it a push."

Chapter Eleven: Nobody's Enemies Part II

* * *

Kayleigh took a deep breath, trying to keep her body as still as possible. On the opposite side of the room were two round targets, set up on stands about ten feet apart. The one on the left was barely recognizable; large chunks were ripped out of the edges, most of the remaining wood was charred and scarred with deep pits. By contrast, the other target was unscathed. Only one, small, measly burn marked the bottom edge.

Three hours into today's training and that was all she had to show for it… Kayleigh glanced briefly at the battered target, the strikes of magic Master Yen Sid had inflicted with the casual demonstrations of spells. Clearly, this was pointless.

"Focus, Kayleigh," Yen Sid's voice boomed behind her, echoing in the circular room off the walls. She stumbled forward a step, startled. "Come on now- we've been over this a dozen times. This time, don't hesitate. Thunder spell."

The girl sighed and zeroed in on the target. _Let it flow_- She lifted her hand and brought it down in a diagonal slash in a short, chopping motion. She sensed nothing- no flow, no anything that might have been labeled 'magical'- but for a fait tingling in the tips of her fingers. The target shuddered as a tiny spark- nothing bigger- struck it in the top right corner. _Yes-!_

Yen Sid nodded once, slowly. "Again."

The whole thing was repeated for another five times. Two were successful; one even knocked a sliver of wood to the ground.

After the last spell, the sorcerer considered for a second, and then said, "Blizzard spell."

Kayleigh rushed to catch her breath, but nodded and turned back for the target. She raised both hands in front of her, side-by-side, palms facing out. _Magic flows-_

"Blizzard-!" A wave of cool air coursed down the length of her arms. Wisps of pale blue ice burst out into the air and raced for the target. Only a tiny little bit managed to fully reach the target, leaving a small patch of ice.

"Hmm, much better." The sorcerer's footsteps bounced lightly off the walls as he walked up to her side at last. His dark eyes appraised her face; something flickered briefly- disappointment? Kayleigh bit her tongue, trying to ignore the stab of shame. 'We'll take a short break for now- in fact, I'll bet you'll want to a chance to freshen up…" She glanced down at herself, grimacing slightly. The clothes Kairi had lent her ages ago were rumpled, and wrinkled, covered in spots with dust and dirt from the real world. Time spent in the computer, hours she guessed in reality, but nearly two weeks here, hadn't been any kinder.

She swiped half-heartedly at the dust. "That would be wonderful."

Master Yen Sid nodded out of the corner of her eyes. "You know where the bathroom is, yes? Good." He gestured and they began to walk back towards the door. "The Faeries will have a change of clothes for you in your room. We'll start again after dinner." At the corridor, the sorcerer parted ways, soon disappearing from view.

Kayleigh sighed, and easy smile crossing over her face as soon as he was gone. The fatigue from the day's workout was melting away as she lightly descended the curving stairway. Both her's and Sora's rooms were two levels down from the top training level; Sora and Merlin had been working right in between.

She slowed down as she reached the next level, walking past the room. A window was set in the door; the brunette peered inside.

Sora and Merlin faced each other on opposite sides of the room, former wielding the keyblade, the latter a frail wooden wand. The boy's face was set in a serious mask- the wizard much the same. At some unknown signal, the elderly wizard whipped the wand through the air, sending a crackling wave of lightning towards Sora.

The boy waited, and slashed the spell away with a swipe of the keyblade. "Blizzard!" The metal blade glowed a faint blue, and a furious spinning ice storm raced towards Merlin. The wizard blocked it, effortlessly, and the scrimmage went on.

Kayleigh stepped away and went on walking. _They make it look so easy- _A twinge of envy brushed over- she pushed it away. This spell-casting, this training, was not for her, pure and simple. It was better left for Sora and Axel.

_Axel_…

She drew a full bath, her thoughts on the redhead and the mission he was on. The way the group had been talking about Maleficent she sounded very powerful and ruthless. Not someone to be messed with. But Axel was strong- Riku too. They should be okay… Right?

Dipping into the warm water was heavenly. Kayleigh relaxed her body, trying deeply to purge her mind of the clips with images she didn't want to see. Watching the redhead's falls to the ground, dazed and hurt. The blood, the pain. The witch's sick grin of triumph as she delivered the final spell…

She washed quickly, snagging a towel and hurrying back to her room.

As promised, a neat pile of clothes- well, piles of shirts, pants, and so on- were lined up along the bed. A note had been left on top of one pile; Kayleigh picked it up, reading through the cursive script:

'_Dear-_

_These have been gathered for you a while ago out of the real world (so you don't need to worry). We didn't know your size, so there's a range to choose from. Something should fit. _

_Love,_

_Fauna, Flora, & Merryweather_

_P.S.: We've heard that training hasn't been going well. Keep your head up, dear, it'll come together soon.'_

She felt a faint smile touch her mouth, set aside the note to the clothing, sifting through them quickly. She ended up picking out a pair of mid-shin length, black, baggy pants with white stripes running down the sides, a black and white vest, fingerless gloves, and- even though it didn't go all the way to the waist and showed off a half inch of skin- a red, short-sleeved tee-shirt. It had been one of only a few things in color- nearly everything was black and white.

A plain paper bag sat at the end of the bed, top folded over between the handles and stapled shut with another note. A far shorter message had been scribed on it; it read: '_For your friend, should he want a change of clothes._'

…_Axel_…

Despite being revived and about for several weeks, he still wore the uniform of the long-gone Organization XIII. He never seemed to care about it, but she be he also wasn't the type to waste time on complaining over clothes. _Still… maybe there's something in there he'll like better._

The world shook violently; Kayleigh fell to the ground, shocked eyes watching anything that had been standing fall over. _What in the world?_ It was over in seconds, if even that long, but it left her shaking in place, startled and not more than a little bit afraid. In her experience, there was no way this could be a good thing.

Teeny tiny voices came from somewhere above: alarmed, angry. The brunette pushed herself up to her feet, ears naturally trying to discern some words. Her room was closer towards the lower levels of the tower, but not so far below that the voices were completely ineligible. Whatever was going on, was happening somewhere upstairs.

The door swung open and the three elderly Faeries flew in, wands raised, uncharacteristic fierce expressions on their faces. Merryweather shut the door behind her.

Kayleigh's stomach squirmed. "What's going on?" The three Faeries just looked at her, silent. "…Fauna..?"

The pink clad Faerie raised her wand, eyes cold and distant, but focused solely on Kayleigh. She expertly flicked her wrist; Kayleigh threw herself to the ground, ducking below the twisting strands of dark lightning. The spell smashed into the wall behind her, sending pieces of plaster and wood. _What- why?_

More lightning was already racing towards her from all of the Faeries. Somehow, she managed to get out of the way, pushing with her hands and feet to slide behind a night table. She smooshed up tight against the wall, trying to still the shakes traveling throughout her whole body. A thin cry jerked out of her when another bolt struck a spot barely a half foot over her head. Her heart was thudding hard in her chest, too fast.

More yelling came from upstairs.

_What do I do?_

They lifted their wands; Fauna licked her lips, eager.

_What-_

More shouting. Someone cried out, hurt. The answer came to her, out of nowhere in her mind. But it made perfect sense, sounded completely natural; more like another voice, a guiding mind, was there, giving simple instructions with a gentle hand.

_You have to get past the Faeries; get upstairs to Sora._

The shaking subsided in slow seconds. Time slowed. Kayleigh watched, eerily calm, as the Faeries raised their wands. Magic gathered at the slender wooden tips, visible static darkness. She took a deep breath, unaware that she held onto it.

The Faeries loosed their spell at the same time. Three beams of lightning tore through the air, directly at her.

Kayleigh threw a hand up, palm out. The lightning hit an invisible wall in front of her and bounced back let the shield spell go, tried not to notice the surprised looks on Fauna's face when the counter fire spell she sent the Faery's way. Fauna fell to the floor with a small cry as the other two workd to get over their shock and attack again.

Somehow the brunette pushed herself up to her feet in that time. Flora recovered first; Kayleigh threw her shield back up in time to catch the next round of lightning. The impact sent a jolt up her arm. She bit her tongue. _Don't break down now-_

"Fire!"

Flora fell, landing heavily on Fauna's wings, knocking her effectively back to the ground.

Merryweather crumbled under a second spell. Kayleigh ran past the three Faeries, certain that at any second she'd feel the lightning hit her in the back. Her hand tumbled over the metal doorknob; somehow, the door jerked open before her and she made it outside, door slamming shut, before any of the Faeries had recovered.

Relief was shortlived- the door shuddered violently against her back; Kayleigh yelped and started running fo the stairs, then up those without slowing.

She sensed the tension in the room before she burst inside. She skidded to a halt, just behind Sora. Much of the furniture was broken, blasted by magic and weapons, or at least had been upturned and shoved aside. Merlin was a crumpled heap on the floor; the elderly wizard's eyes were closed, his wand lying a few inches from his hand. But a deep frown was frozen over his face, mouth curled up in a snarl. Dusks bobbed and slithered about in the far corners of the room.

Sora's blue eyes flicked towards her in silent recognition, then snapped back forwards. He stood in a battle-ready crouch, keyblade gripped tightly in his hands. Kayleigh followed his gaze, landing upon the fourth person in the room.

To her surprise, the woman's bright yellow eyes were already on her. Hair the color of a tornado, all shades of browns, black, and some grey, was spiked up and back over her head; a few strands curled along the side of her thin face. Her tall frame was clothed in pale greys and blues: a long-sleeved tunic over loose leggings. Her thin lips curled up into a smirk. "There you are..," her voice was higher than what was probably expected: cold and flat. "We were wondering why you parted with your second, but then you show up with this…" she gestured vaguely at Sora. The smirk widened. "Don't you know that's against the rules?"

Her small move forward alerted Sora, who lurched somewhat awkwardly in front of Kayleigh and raised the keyblade up for an attack. "Don't take another step, Raine!"

The woman's gold eyes flicked onto Sora. "All right… have it your way." She raised one hand over head; sharp nails, more like talons than actual finger nails, flashed in the light. The hand slashed back down.

An inhuman shriek pierced the air. Kayleigh flinched, hands flying to her ears in a vain attempt to stop the ringing sound. Something heavy batted against her arm, hard. Sora spun around, swinging the keyblade through the air over her head. With another shriek, the attacker fell to the ground at her feet. It was shaped just like a bird, a starling, though nearly ten times as large; but where feathers would have grown on an actual fowl, its body was smooth white, devoid of any markings that followed any form of animal flesh. The wings were stubby appendages, nothing flashy- the real emphasis was on the sharp talons off of its feet, and the jagged edges of its beak. _What on earth are these things? _She kicked feebly at the creature as it tried using its good wing to push its beak and talons within reach of her. It mewled in protest, but didn't give up.

More of the bird things were still in the air, their cries loud. Sora's keyblade slashed through them with ease, but even his speed and skill couldn't match their numbers.

Raine's voice rang out over the din. "Just give up! Really- how bad can it be?"

_We have to get out of here!_

Kayleigh struck a lucky hit against a creature with her arm and raised her other hand up into the air over her head, summoning up a bit of magic. A second later, she let the spell go; lightning leapt through the air, seeking out and jolting the birds. A multitude of them fell to the ground, twitching- those that weren't hit circled away. It allowed for a few precious seconds to act; Kayleigh grabbed Sora's arm, recalling King Mickey's instructions from a day far away.

_Just concentrate- feel for it_-

Sora yelped in surprise as the darkness closed in around the two of them. Soon, everything around them was unpenetrating, universal black, the realm of Darkness Axel first brought her to before they finished a trip to another world. The quiet, the solitude, was greatly relieving.

"K-Kayleigh, how did you-?" Sora's wide eyes flicked onto her and off on their new surroundings and back again in rapid succession.

His question went unanswered and incomplete. Another presence entered the realm; Kayleigh's grip on Sora's arm tightened as her heart began teating too fast once more and her stomach clenched up. Raine smiled at them, almost sweetly. "Did you really think you could escape me by coming here? You fool." Three white forms of the avian creatures swirled into being from the dark. More were coming.

"Sora, hold on-" She barely noted the look of surprise the boy gave her, too focused to notice much of anything. She led them both further down into the Darkness further inside the realm's maze-like folds and crevices. The scenery barely changed visually, but he weight of the atmosphere grew heavy and muggy, and would then clear- time slowed, quickened, and slowed again- the presence of a mob of invisible, ghastly things would suddenly appear, surrounding them, and would just as quickly vanish.

She led them along, trying to be fast and careful at the same time. Sora struggled at first, but now he was relaxed and still. For a short time, Raine was behind them, but then her presence was gone. Kayleigh kept them where they were a little longer before drawing back up, two swimmers finally resurfacing. This time, the Realm of Darkness (after the race in the depths, the all-black surroundings felt like a particularly thin cover- paint over glass) was empty save for the two of them.

"I-I think we're okay now." Kayleigh said around gasps for air. This teleporting- it was tough. "..Sora?" When the boy still hadn't answered, she glanced over at him. _Oh no-_ His eyes were closed in a very pale and relaxed expression- too much.

OhnoOhno indeed. King Mickey had warned her about this- the effect the lower layers in the Realm of Darkness had on other beings; especially on those from the Light.

But now was not the time for idle speculation.

She closed her eyes, once more to concentrate. At last, the pull of Darkness slackened and completely released its hold on her. The floor beneath her feet was solid, slated metal. No lights still: just that eerie cold glow casting vague flickers of shadows around. Somewhere, Donald sputtered a surprised cry. There was other voices as well- several too many to pick each one out.

Sora slipped out of her numb fingers, his body consequently folding up and in at the knees, waist and neck in a crumpled heap on the floor. Kayleigh followed him, even less gracefully. Her head slammed against a metal surface; the jolt was painful enough to wake her up a few seconds longer- long enough to see Goofy picking Sora's limp body up and setting him up sitting and resting against the wall next to her. Donald waved a wand over their heads with a small cry, "Cure!" The faint touches of magic tickled over her senses; the pain in her arm lessened, was gone.

_Oh that's nice…_

She tried lifting her head up, hoping to will her ongue into working- to say thanks at least- but naturally no words came out.

Donald stood in the middle of the group, continuously casting a series of cure spells, apparently on everyone but himself and Goofy. Riku had knelt awkwardly in the space between her and Sora; his eyes ran over the brunette quickly and then over to her. His mouth was moving- asking questions, muttering insults, whatever. He was beaten up something fierce.

Axel stood just behind Donald, both a part and yet away from the group. The vivid green eyes locked onto her, wide, shocked. She had to look away; guilty guilty guilty. She didn't want to see, to hear any words, to even suspect at what he might think of her now. Rather, what he must assuredly think.

Her eyes slid closed. Too tired. Too much.

The darkness swam in. A wonderful comfort for once.

_

* * *

_

No… she can't be. I would have noticed.

Her eyes slid past Riku's face, finding him. Axel read the flash of guilt in her gaze- was it there, really?- and then she turned away, eyes slipping closed for longer than a second.

Riku scowled. He raised a hand as if to shake her shoulder, but then thought better of it, letting it drop back to his side. "Dammit," the teen swore.

Donald cast one more cure spell before finally giving way to exhaustion and bending over his knees, breathing heavily.

The sirens were still going off, the lights flaring, until it abruptly stopped; Riku shambled back over towards the computer monitor, woodenly announced after a brief pause, "Well, the intruders left the program… I guess we're okay for now." Silence, devoid of any relief, met the remark.

Goofy stirred, lifting Sora's unconscious form up off the ground carefully. "We should let Sora and Kayleigh recover upstairs," he stated simply, already carrying the teen towards the door.

"Yeah- that's a good idea," Riku replied, eyes sliding towards Kayleigh, but otherwise not moving.

Axel sighed, taking the few steps to reach the girl. "I got her." He scooped her up off the ground- she felt so light in her arms, as if she weighed nothing more than dark smoke. Her head rolled against his shoulder; the redhead glanced down at her face, feeling the faint waft of breath hit his skin. Sleeping then; not unconscious, just exhausted.

No small amount of relief met that realization, but it was soon replaced by a new worry as he turned slowly and carefully around to follow Goofy out.

"Axel-"

The redhead paused by the bottom of the basement stairs, and glanced back at Riku. "Yeah?"

"Does this mean-" the teen paused, considering. "Is she a Nobody too?" he asked, matter of fact.

Axel glanced back down at the girl's face, quiet. "I don't know." He adjusted his grip on her and started after Goofy.


End file.
